Insider shares theory about Browns' alleged unique QB idea for 2025 season

Cleveland Browns reporters Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said this week that the club is "prepared" to have quarterbacks Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel on the active roster for "much or all of" the 2025 NFL season.  

On Tuesday, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio shared a theory regarding why discussions about the Browns' alleged plans for their quarterback situation grew louder following the team's mandatory minicamp, which wrapped up on June 12. 

"It’s entirely possible that the Browns are putting out the notion that they plan to take all four quarterbacks to training camp in order to create some/any trade leverage," Florio wrote. "If no one believes they’ll keep quarterbacks in the fold for camp (one of them surely won’t get the reps he needs to compete), no one will be willing to offer anything for the odd man out (we continue to think that, if there is one, it’s Pickett)."

PFT named Pickett as the potential "odd man out" less than 24 hours after Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated suggested Flacco will enter the summer as the favorite to start Cleveland's Week 1 game versus the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7. Some have linked Pickett with the New Orleans Saints, in part because he had first-year New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore as his offensive coordinator last season when the two were with the Philadelphia Eagles.

That said, Moore could choose to start rookie Tyler Shough over 2024 fifth-round draft pick Spencer Rattler and 2023 fourth-round choice Jake Haener. As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Shough as the betting favorite at -330 odds to be New Orleans' Week 1 starter. 

"If the Browns don’t get an acceptable offer for Pickett before it’s time to cut the roster from 90 to 53," Florio added, "one potential short-term approach could be to cut Flacco, sign him to the practice squad and bring him up to the active roster every week. It’s the 54-man roster trick, where a vested veteran who doesn’t have to pass through waivers (until the trade deadline) plays along with the approach." 

Breer said that Flacco didn't re-sign with the Browns earlier this offseason "to hold a clipboard" as an unused 40-year-old backup. Perhaps Flacco would experience a change of heart if he loses the Cleveland QB1 gig to Pickett and then finds that no other club is interested in his services come September. 

For now, there's no sign the Browns are in any hurry to discard either Flacco or Pickett before the club opens the preseason with a game at the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 8.