Dawgs By Nature
Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett — who wins the opening day job? Do they both survive?
With training camp about a month away, it is time to get started on our annual position-by-position preview for the Cleveland Browns! We start with the quarterback position, which we are breaking down into two parts. Part 1 covers Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, while Part 2 will dive into the team’s two rookie quarterbacks (and that other guy who is still on the team).
Height: 6-6 | Weight: 230 lbs | Age: 40
Experience: 19 years | College: Delaware
There is no doubt that Joe Flacco had a magical run during the end of the 2023 season for Cleveland. He won the Comeback Player of the Year, and guided the team to a 4-1 record to cap off the regular season — before falling victim to a few too many mistakes in the team’s lone postseason game against the Texans.
Cleveland then made the decision to not even try to re-sign Flacco in 2024. With Deshaun Watson returning from injury, they instead added veteran Jameis Winston. While Winston provided some good moments in his own right, it wasn’t the same as Flacco Fever, mostly because the team’s record was dismal, finishing the season at 3-14.
Now, Flacco is back, but it’s a complicated quarterback situation in Cleveland. He has the most experience of the quarterbacks by far, and provides a sense of calm and confidence for his teammates. He was signed off the street by the Browns back in 2023, and he picked up the offense in his sleep — some fans have said, “just imagine what he could do with a full offseason.” The guy has 19 years of experience in the league, which is crazy.
I loved Flacco to death and am happy the team brought him back, but it’s also fair to acknowledge that the Browns had a soft schedule during those stretch of games, and his gunslinger mentality will still lead to some troublesome turnovers. He’s also not expected to be the future of the team, so what is the team’s purpose in 2025? Do they want to win at all cost? Do they want to see how things go with Flacco before transitioning to a younger quarterback to see if that guy could have a future in Cleveland?
The fan in me wants to see Flacco at least get a chance to build off of that magical 2023 season to begin the 2025 season. However, I’m also a realist and am fully aware that it could be like Kelly Holcomb 2.0 or Derek Anderson 2.0 — guys who provided some magic during the stretch of a season, but once they were the team’s starter to begin the following season, things were ugly.
Final Roster Odds: 90%
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 220 lbs | Age: 27
Experience: 4 years | College: Pittsburgh
Complicating...
