Browns, Joe Flacco and Shedeur Sanders
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The Cleveland Browns have named Joe Flacco their starting quarterback for the 2025 NFL season. Judy Battista examines how the Browns' QB competition unfolded -- and what might be next for Shedeur Sanders,
The Cleveland Browns named Audubon native Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback, which a former NFL player believes is the wrong decision.
Cleveland named Joe Flacco the starting quarterback Monday. “Joe Cool leading the way,” the Browns official account wrote on X, adding a saluting face emoji. It took any remaining drama out of the unique quarterback competition that included Kenny Pickett and two rookies in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
BEREA, Ohio — Winning the Week 1 start for Joe Flacco wasn’t anywhere near as tough as keeping the job will be. Kevin Stefanski stressed that Flacco earned the job outright, and didn’t win it by default because of injuries to Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
"Joe Flacco was always going to start week 1 for the Cleveland Browns," Middlekauf said on his "3&Out" podcast. "That's not the story. The only story is now what's going to be their quarterback depth chart when the season starts?
Shedeur Sanders arrived at Cleveland Browns training camp determined to compete and instead watched as veteran quarterback Joe Flacco formally secured the starting job for Week 1.
With two first-round picks in 2026, Cleveland likely needs to evaluate both rookie quarterbacks during the regular season despite limited practice opportunities.