Browns' Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett open up about competing for starting job

According to numerous reporters, veteran Joe Flacco is truly competing only with 2022 first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett for the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback job this summer. 

In April, Pickett fired somewhat of a warning shot when he made it known his "plan" is to start for the 2025 Browns. On Thursday, Flacco addressed battling with Pickett for the QB1 gig. 

"I think we’re all aware of that and it’s not necessarily talked about between the two of us," Flacco said, as shared by Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "...In general, it’s kind of the wrong mindset to be in to be at your best. It’s natural for those things to come into your head, but you try to do your best to get ‘em out and just go out there and be with the guys and be in the moment."

Flacco sparked some controversy in the spring when the 40-year-old suggested that he cared more about playing than about serving as a mentor for Pickett, 2025 third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and 2025 fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders. More recently, conflicting stories have emerged regarding whether Flacco or Pickett would start if Cleveland's Week 1 game were scheduled for July 27 rather than for Sept. 7. 

The Browns seem to want Gabriel and Sanders to open the campaign developing as backups. 

"But I really, second day at camp, I think the best thing for me is to just stay in the moment and come out here and have fun and compete and just do what I love to do," Flacco added. "I think that’s going to be the best way for me to show what I can do and all that stuff. So I think there’s a lot of self-motivation in order to be good in this league, and that’s always there. So I’m just going to continue to approach it like I always do."

Flacco won four of five starts to guide the 2023 Browns to the playoffs and is the only active Cleveland quarterback who has ever taken an in-game snap while playing under head coach Kevin Stefanski. That said, some think people within the Browns "want" Pickett" to enter September as Cleveland's starter since he's only 27 years old.

"I think that's what coaches are looking for; a guy that's consistent, that's the same guy every day that they can count on," Pickett said, per Karl Rasmussen of Sports Illustrated. "They can call any play; they know we'll get them out of a bad play. If the shot's called and it's not there, we'll check it down. Just good quarterback play that can help this team win games. Because that's what it's all about. We're all here to win."

Also on Thursday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted that the Browns likely won't try to stash Gabriel or Sanders on the practice squad because "any team then would have the chance to add a quarterback on a rookie deal at no additional cost via the waiver wire."

Thus, Cleveland may try to trade whoever loses the Flacco-versus-Pickett battle to a quarterback-needy team following the Browns' preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 23.