Insider explains how Joe Flacco could lose Browns' QB competition this summer

Throughout the spring and summer, outlets such as FanDuel Sportsbook have listed 40-year-old Joe Flacco as the betting favorite (-102 odds as of Tuesday afternoon) to win the competition for the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback job.

The competition also features Kenny Pickett (+200 odds), rookie Dillon Gabriel (+500 odds) and first-year pro Shedeur Sanders (+870 odds). 

That's understandable, as Flacco is the only active Cleveland quarterback who has taken in-game snaps while playing under head coach Kevin Stefanski.

For a piece posted on Tuesday, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer shared that Flacco's performances with the Indianapolis Colts last season show how he could lose the QB1 gig to Pickett before August comes to an end. 

"The turnovers can’t be overstated," Cabot wrote about Flacco's season-long stint with Indianapolis. "He threw seven interceptions and lost all four of his fumbles in [eight games, six starts]. In a 30-20 loss to the Bills, he gave the ball away four times, including three INTs, one of which was a pick-six. All told, he turned it over nine times in his last four starts (1-3)."

Perhaps most notably, Flacco tossed four interceptions, lost two fumbles and took seven sacks in back-to-back November losses with the Colts after head coach Shane Steichen benched starter Anthony Richardson, who controversially took himself out of a game because he was "tired." The perception exists that Steichen only went back to Richardson because Flacco played so poorly over those two games. 

"He proved vulnerable to the strip last season due in part to his lack of mobility, and now he’s another year older," Cabot wrote about Flacco. 

Stefanski and Co. are seemingly hoping Flacco can revive the version of himself who won four of five regular-season starts to guide the 2023 Browns to the playoffs. According to Cabot, Flacco "has the support of veteran" Cleveland players such as starting left guard Joel Bitonio and star pass-rusher Myles Garrett. That said, some believe people within the Browns "want" Pickett to win the job over Flacco, in part because Pickett turned just 27 years old in June.

Interestingly, Browns reporter Zac Jackson of The Athletic mentioned in a different article published on Tuesday that "it’s possible — maybe even likely — that either Flacco or Pickett won’t be on the team, and that the Browns will keep two rookie quarterbacks" in September. That comment suggests Flacco and Pickett will be the top two signal-callers battling for the starting job during the preseason, beginning with Cleveland's matchup at the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 8. 

"I view it as Joe Flacco versus Kenny Pickett for the starting job in September," Jackson added. "...I’d be stunned if either rookie can actually win the job in camp." 

It sounds like the Browns could cut or trade Flacco if he turns the ball over early and often from the start of training camp through Cleveland's preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 23.