Dawgs By Nature
The Cleveland Browns are a quarterback haven. It’s the QB port of call where guys of all cultures and creeds come to get paid, then move along to somewhere else after successes and failures.
How many signal-callers have started for them since they re-entered the NFL in 1999? Last weekend, rookie Dillon Gabriel started against the Minnesota Vikings, a 21-17 loss across the pond in London. Gabriel became the 41st starting QB since The Return.
In 2023, the franchise tied a record with the 1987 New England Patriots for the most starting quarterbacks in a single season with five. Then, the Browns broke a record the following year for the greatest number of starters in a two-year span with nine.
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This week, veteran Joe Flacco was traded to division foe the Cincinnati Bengals. He had been the starter for the first four games, then was benched for the Vikings contest as Cleveland slipped to 1-4-0 behind the 2-3-0 Bengals.
It wasn’t quite certain what would happen in the quarterback room after the Minnesota game. Would Gabriel continue as the starter? Would Flacco be inserted again? Maybe the two would flip-flop every other game? Or perhaps the hot hand would play until he cooled, and then the other one would start.
Nobody knew. When somebody asked Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski about where Flacco now stood, he barked:
“Yeah, Joe’s the backup.”
And it wasn’t like Gabriel lit up the joint. The Browns had eight punts, including four in the final quarter alone. Gabriel went 19-33 for just 190 passing yards. 3-15 on third down efficiency. 4.8 yards per play. Still haven’t cracked scoring 20 points in a single game. 10 team penalties. Had a late lead and couldn’t gather a few first downs in order to run out the clock. Another loss with low scoring and few good drives.
Gabriel looked okay, but he didn’t wow anybody. No 400-yard game, or tossing four TDs with one or two rushing touchdowns to add to the bounty. Just another average game from an average quarterback performance.
Now, he may develop into something spectacular. We will see. For now, he has started all of one NFL game.
Now that Flacco has been shipped off, this means he isn’t going to be the backup any longer. Which suits him. Because he had conversations just last week about whether he was going to start games again for the Browns or hold the clipboard on game days.
He has been the backup with the New York Jets, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Denver Broncos. And since his time playing is winding down, Flacco decided that playing backup just isn’t for him.
So, he is now in Cincinnati. And this weekend, he will try to defeat a team that he has already beaten this season: the Green Bay Packers. What are the odds of that ever happening before? We have all heard of pro baseball players who got traded...
