What Is Browns' Plan at Quarterback?

The Cleveland Browns have, once again, made a mess. They’ll have the summer to clean it up and feign competence by Week 1.

The Browns entered the 2025 NFL Draft with three quarterbacks – Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Deshaun Watson. They were expected to leave with one more, namely Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.

Eventually, Sanders did get a phone call from Cleveland. But not before the most polarizing plummet in recent NFL Draft memory and the addition of another quarterback in Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel.

Now, the Browns have too many quarterbacks and too few roster spots, complicating their plan in a bizarre act of roster building.

The only way Cleveland’s quarterback room begins to make sense is if Watson spends the season on injured reserve. He had already worn out his welcome, playing like one of the worst starting quarterbacks in football. He tore his Achilles in 2024 and then re-injured it during the offseason. Playing another down with the Browns remains unlikely, so he can tentatively be crossed off the list.

That leaves the Browns with four quarterbacks and either three spots or a sacrifice at another part of the roster.

Flacco will be expected to start, given his experience, recent success in Cleveland, and ability to stretch the field. He may very well be head coach Kevin Stefanski’s best shot at returning to the playoffs.

From there, Pickett comes into play. He figures to slide in on the second string, but he means less for the team’s long-term plan than either rookie quarterback. He could feasibly be moved before Week 1. Cutting him would net a $2.6 million dead cap charge; trading him would turn that into savings. The problem there, of course, is Flacco being an injury or benching away from a mid-round rookie quarterback starting meaningful games.

Cleveland isn’t likely to put a passer on the practice squad, although it remains possible that the “loser” of a training camp battle gets demoted off the 53-man roster.

The simplest option may be keeping all of the quarterbacks and short-changing themselves elsewhere. Perhaps signing versatile lineman Teven Jenkins allows the Browns to run with one less offensive lineman, or adding another high-level talent to the defensive line makes depth a little less necessary.

In any case, Cleveland’s work isn’t done, and the storylines emerging from this quarterback room will continue even deeper into the offseason.