Browns' Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett open up about four-way QB competition

Following the practice, both Flacco and Pickett addressed being part of quite a unique situation this spring. 

"I'm not really thinking about it that much, honestly," Flacco said about the competition, 247Sports' Fred Greetham shared. "I'm just kind of going out there and doing what I do, and everything else is kind of out of my control. So all I can do is go out there and play football, and that's what I'm doing."

Throughout May, FanDuel Sportsbook has consistently listed Flacco as the betting favorite (+116 odds as of Wednesday afternoon) to win the starting job this summer. Of the four signal-callers, Flacco is the only one who has experience playing under head coach Kevin Stefanski. During the second half of the 2023 season, Flacco went 4-1 as Cleveland's starter to guide the club to a playoff berth. 

However, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has repeatedly stated that she feels Pickett is the "frontrunner" to start the season as Cleveland's QB1 after the club acquired him from the Philadelphia Eagles in March. As for Gabriel and Sanders, they will likely spend the summer battling for the QB3 gig unless the Browns choose to get rid of Flacco or Pickett before Week 1. 

It's believed the Browns could open the campaign with all four quarterbacks on their roster. 

"I think it's the outside world makes it up a lot bigger than it is when you're day to day and you're in meetings with these guys, you're out at practice," Pickett said about sharing a quarterback room with Flacco, Gabriel and Sanders. "We spend so much time together. Of course, we're all competing, but you become friends with everybody. ...We're helping each other. There's an open dialogue in the quarterback room to help each other grow. So I think it's a great media headline, but when you get in the building in a quarterback room and, at least all the ones that I've been in, you really become friends with these guys, and we're just pushing each other."

Sanders' fall to the fifth round of the draft after many thought he'd be a first-round selection continues to be one of the most-discussed NFL topics of the spring. On Wednesday afternoon, Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland indicated that Sanders was a "distant fourth" as it pertains to reps taken:

If nothing else, Sanders' numbers from Wednesday's practice will certainly generate plenty of discussions among fans and local media personalities during what is otherwise a relatively quiet time of the sports year for a football-obsessed market.