Sportsnaut
Shedeur Sanders’ fight to potentially be the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback in Week 1 is officially over.
The Browns have been undergoing the most notable QB battle in the NFL this summer. However, for weeks, the assumption around the league was that greybeard Joe Flacco would be under center in Week 1 versus the Cincinnati Bengals. Well, that speculation was confirmed on Monday.
Joe Cool leading the way 🫡
We've named Joe Flacco our starting quarterback.
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 18, 2025
“We’ve named Joe Flacco our starting quarterback,” the team announced in a post on their X account today.
The announcement puts to rest any further discussion about rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders potentially winning the QB1 job in the preseason. However, it does mean there is still one major role that needs to be decided on.
While he won’t get the chance to start in Week 1, Sanders still has a major battle to win over the next two weeks. The Browns have yet to decide on who will be the backup to Flacco.
Heading into the summer, former first-round pick Kenny Pickett was seen as a dark horse to win the starting job. However, a hamstring injury has killed those chances. But if he can get healthy and play in the final preseason game, he will be the favorite to get the QB2 spot. As long as he has a good performance.
Sanders played very well in the team’s preseason opener against the Panthers. And boosted his chances of landing higher up on the depth chart. But an oblique injury forced him out of this weekend’s matchup with the Eagles.
Fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel got more snaps because of that injury, and he had and strong showing in his first NFL action. Sanders has played better, but Cleveland is very high on Gabriel. The No. 2 spot is up for grabs and likely will be decided in their final preseason matchup against the Rams on Saturday.
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