Throughout the offseason, Browns general manager Andrew Berry has publicly stated a willingness to carry four healthy quarterbacks on the regular season roster. As the cutdown deadline looms, it appears Cleveland will indeed take that route. 
Rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are safe with respect to making the team’s 53-man roster, although it was recently learned Gabriel was the subject of trade interest immediately after he was drafted. The Oregon product has been ahead of Sanders through the offseason, but he – like Kenny Pickett – has missed time during camp due to a hamstring issue.
As a result of Pickett’s missed time and the inexperience of the Browns’ other options, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot writes Joe Flacco represents the top candidate to begin the season as QB1. It would certainly come as no surprise if the 40-year-old handled starting duties at least early in his second stint with the team, especially with Pickett on the mend. Sanders is dealing with an oblique strain, meanwhile, making it unlikely he suits up for Cleveland’s second preseason contest.
However snaps are handled over the coming weeks, Cabot notes each member of the Flacco-Pickett-Gabriel-Sanders quartet can be expected to survive roster cuts. Deshaun Watson remains in the organization, of course, but as he recovers from a second Achilles tear he is highly unlikely to play in 2025. That leaves recent signing Tyler Huntley in the fold for now, although his return to Cleveland came about in the wake of other injuries under center.
Huntley did not make it to Cleveland’s Week 1 roster during his first stint with the team, and that will no doubt be the case once again in 2025. Even if he is released shortly, however, the Browns’ QB room is set to remain crowded into the fall.
Yeah, because one probably got hurt as this was being typed. The Browns have been snakebit with injuries at that position so far. Five QBs, and the 40 year old is the only one healthy (at the moment, at least).
Even if all them were healthy, they don’t have one good QB.
Bull! Flacco and Pickett are both good QB’S and way better then the 4 QB’S who played in Cleveland last season. Plus Sanders is very good and by season end, should be starting….
Keep huffing that copium, Traci.
Did you just say Pickett is a “good QB”? Not sure if serious.
I think Pickett will get traded or released. I don’t see 4 QB’s making the 53 regardless of what Berry is saying now (which may be to increase the likelihood some team will trade for Pickett rather than wait for him to be released).
Before he got hurt, it seemed (shockingly to me) that Pickett was in the driver’s seat. Now, it’s hard to disagree. If Sanders or Gabriel bombs in these next games, they might keep him. Otherwise, a trade seems prudent for a team that needs a contingency option.
If Stafford isn’t ready to go Pickett could be a flier to Los Angeles for a seventh or something. Flacco is safe though imo.
Don’t the Rams have Jimmy G ?
That’s my point. Rams have Jimmy G lol
Pickett isn’t getting traded. They have liked him since the 2022 draft. They’re not going into the season without him. Flacco won’t make it through 17 games and they won’t throw the rookies to the wolves….they are keeping all 4…
*cough cough*
I still wouldn’t bet on it. I could see them cutting Pickett loose if all four of them are ever actually healthy at the same time. But frankly, why not? It wouldn’t make sense for most teams, but it’s not like this is a win now team or a roster filled to the brim with talent. They set themselves up for a bigger offseason next year. Why not take a look? Because it’s weird and inefficient? Way too late for the Browns to not be weird and inefficient.
“But frankly why not?” Funny enough is the browns front office business slogan that guides all their decisions
Pickett is trash, and Flacco is literally 41 years old. Like what are we doing here? Why is this even a question? Stefanski clearly has no clue as he pushed Mayfield out the door after getting their first playoff win in 30 years, and so they had to scramble to find something after the Watson trade went so horribly wrong. They traded for Pickett, signed Flacco, and would have traded for Cousins too if the Falcons played ball. This is what an aimless franchise looks like. The definition of.
Is there hard evidence that Stefanski pushed Mayfield out? I think the owner, Jimmy Haslam, wanted Deshaun Watson. And once they got him, it pretty much meant Mayfield needed to be dealt away. I don’t think Stefanski has been the one buying the groceries in Cleveland.
I also think you’re blaming the wrong guy here. The meddling owner wanted a star and Berry thought Baker was immature–so he traded for the sex offender.
Stefanski, meanwhile, could probably be a perennial playoff head coach in a good situation.
Do you people need stuff spoon fed to you? That whole first couple of years Stefanski was there, there was obvious tension between he and Mayfield. He then played with the hurt shoulder to get another contract, and Stefanski used the situation to get rid of him as things went off the tracks. The whole playoff year, there was a wierd vibe bwetween those two while they were having their best season in 30 years. He didn’t like him. You could tell, which I can say Mayfield’s personality isn’t for everyone, but he should have been backed by his coach. Do you really believe the Haslems were the ones leaking stuff to the media about Baker needs to grow up and all of that other passive aggressive stuff that was said? One thing I do get about them is that they seem to defer to their front office quite a bit on football matters going back to the whole tanking thing with Hue Jackson and Sashi Brown. I just wish these biased reporters didn’t have to outright tell you people things for you to see it yourselves.
So you’re telling me you believe the guy they brought in because of his work with QBs was just standing in the corner while his no football background GM and the owner who implemented an actual plan of losing as many games as he could because the football people at the time told him to was the one who spearheaded getting Watson? Jesus, I wonder sometimes about football fans and their ability to put two and two together. Go back and read articles from those three years that they were together and the passive-aggressiveness from Stefanski toward Mayfeild. It was obvious as day. He didn’t think he was good enough, which was his prerogative, but he’s been very wrong as evidenced by Mayfeild’s trajectory in Tampa since and how badly the foray with Watson went. Furthermore, his work with Wwatson should receive just as much scrutiny as he didn’t understand the offense that was built around him in Houston and couldn’t replicate its effectiveness. I know some of you love to absolve coaches for any and everything when they screw up, which he’s done plenty of, and praise them alone for successes, but Stefanski has been a bozo with their QB room and should be fired here sometime this year if they want to go somewhere in the future.
I’d agree, but I don’t know if Mayfield’s departure was Stefanski’s doing. He’s proven that he’s a good coach, but I’m not privy to the Browns’ inner workings. I do agree that Mayfield was totally mishandled-I think they have regrets (even if they may not admit it).
Whoa…Baker didn’t get along with Stefanski and the locker room was divided because of it. Baker had to go. As for Cousins, Browns were never trading for him and as for Pickett… Stefanski has liked him since the 2022 draft. Flacco was signed to be that solid vet backup…nothing wrong with this QB room….
That should make you question all of his QB decisions then. This is the same bozo who had DTR starting games in the NFL as a rookie who isn’t an NFL starter or even a backup frankly. Pickett is trash. I am not an NFL evaluator, and I could have told you that. He has dude in the mix to be his starter after getting a close-up look at him two times a year with the Steelers. The Steelers were stupid to draft him too, but at least they quickly realized their mistake and got rid of him. Stacked Eagle team, and he came in last year and looked like garbage like always.
I’ve been (and remain) a Sanders skeptic but he played well enough that he deserves another decent look.
Was it because he was playing against the guys who won’t make the worst team in the league? Maybe. Probably.
But, he did play well and needs another (real, not 4th quarter mop up time) shot.
I mean he got the job done. I wouldn’t necessarily evaluate it as “played well”
Most of the passes were sketchy, whether they worked out or not.
Can shut him down pretty easily with cover-2 flats
Flacco is the best of the group
Gabriel and Sanders they just drafted a few months ago
It seems like little mittens is the odd man out here. He will be traded to a team whose starter or backup gets injured.
Agree. They may start with 4 on the roster, but one is likley to become trade fodder before the deadline.
Rams makes more sense. Stafford is dealing with injuries right now. Another spot could be saints they’re lacking in QB experience
Flacco sucks too. He is the definition of a dead end. When he had to play last year for the Colts, it progressively got worse the more he played.
It’s funny how Flacco, 18th pick in the first round and still starting at 41 with a Super Bowl played is the guy they are making fun of all the time. Dude gets no respect.
Pickett was the 20th pick in the first round just 3 short years ago and not getting any respect, but Gabriel and Sanders get all the attention because they are rookie as 3rd and 5th rounders. Media is funny like that.
Watson cashes out huge and forgot how to play the position and can’t get healthy, while Mayfield recovered from his shoulder injury and put in a system where he is thriving.
Football is such a funny game and way too much emphasis is put on when a guy is drafted by the media and guys are given up on too quickly and discarded, while others are shamed for being top 32 at what they do in the world at age 41.
Say what you want about Flacco, but he’s better than 64-100 other backup QB’s and maybe a handful of other starters in the league.
Look what Darnold did in Minnesota in a different situation and let’s see what he does in Seattle this year after losing two veteran starting WR’s. Should be interesting.
Excited to see what Geno can do under the Carroll/Chip combo with a solid RB and excellent TE combo.
It’s a funny game with strange and unpredictable outcomes, which is why we all watch and formulate our own GM opinions, so we can look in the mirror and let our egos get so big that we actually convince ourselves we have clue what it takes to actually be a real GM.
The obsession with Dillon and Sanders reminds me of Peter Griffin giving up a boat to see what’s in the mystery box. Because a boat’s a boat while the mystery box can be anything. It can even be a boat!
“Peter, I’ve got to ask, where do you get the money for all of these shenanigans?”
Someone will have to go
Why? The Browns know better then anyone how quickly a QB can go south with injuries. It’s easier to move lineman and DB’s up and down off a practice squad then it is QB’S. Most teams only carry 2 QB’S then injury strikes and they have to scramble….I’m perfectly happy having 4
Most carry two on the roster third quarterback usually goes to the practice squad and get a free elevation every week no reason to have 4 on your roster That’s stupid. You’re gonna make yourself short on offensive lineman. they’re so worried about cutting the Sanders kid because a bow back from all the Sanderssexuals.
I remember when people were so obsessed with Tony Romo used to be called Romosexuals
Browns are planning on playing a few starters on special teams so they won’t need to carry extra players that just play special teams
This stands to reason. The Browns are not playing to win this year anyway. They will be pick #1 next draft and look for a savior then…
Bull! The whole narrative that their playing for next year’s QB draft is just that, bull. They are playing to win. There’s never a guarantee when it comes to a QB and just because you draft one in the 1st round means nothing. Hell Baker went 1st overall and it took 4 teams before he grew up and became a good QB…..
They haven’t played to win since the real Browns moved to Baltimore. I think the past 25 years prove that a quarterbacks life in Cleveland are shorter than a midge
Playing games of “Go Fish” in the quarterback room is much easier if you have a foursome 🙂
This seems like a waste of two roster spots right? Unless the 3rd and 4th string QBs are gonna play special teams.
The Browns would be a serious title contender if only 2 of 53 roster spots were wasted. The actual number is much higher.
Wait! What!? All we’ve heard from the media is how they’re gonna end up cutting Shedeur Sanders… are people now reporting that’s not going to happen????
Pickett is the odd man out. He probably gets dealt to a needy team for a 4th or 5th. If they want a vet at QB2, Huntley or DTR probably end up on the PS.
DTR isn’t on the team, unless you have powers that can tell the future where the Browns claim him after he gets waived by the Eagles. What’s Monday’s winning lottery numbers gonna be?
And this is why the Browns will always be the Browns.