NFL Trade Rumors
Training camps start in earnest across the league this week. The Hall of Fame game is just over a week away and before we know it, the preseason will be upon us. A lot of important things happen during training camp, from players fighting for their careers to key positional battles taking place.
We can learn a lot from training camp, though not every camp has a lot of intrigue from a national perspective. Today, I’ve compiled the five most interesting storylines to monitor across the league as camps get underway. Let’s dive right in:
The training camp headliner, without a doubt, is Cleveland’s quarterback situation. I can’t remember the last time we had a true four-way quarterback competition. Three real contenders is rare enough, but four?
The presumed leader in the clubhouse is veteran Joe Flacco. He didn’t look like he had much left in the tank with the Colts last year, but the year before that, he was the on-and-off starter in Cleveland and led the Browns to a playoff berth. The coaching staff has familiarity with him, and Flacco knows the offense.
Then we have the two rookies. Third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders both flashed potential during OTAs, but mid-round picks usually need time and development, something they won’t be granted during this competition. Reps will be at a premium, and if one falters early, they may not have a chance to make that ground up.
The wild card here is trade acquisition Kenny Pickett. We last saw Pickett in real action in 2023, when he was the starter in Pittsburgh. The Steelers traded him to the Eagles without a clear succession plan in place, telling you all you need to know about how they felt about his future. Still, he’s a multi-year starter, and if Flacco’s decline last season continues and the rookies aren’t ready, there’s a real chance Pickett wins the job.
The Browns have signaled they want to keep all four quarterbacks on the roster this year. That would be highly abnormal, but there won’t be much of a market for any of them. Most likely, we’ll see at least three of these guys start this year for the Browns, if not all four. Flacco is the odds-on favorite to win the job in Week 1, given his experience, and Sanders has all the hype as a projected borderline first-round pick who fell to the fifth. Sneakily, I think Gabriel might win this job, as he’s the higher-drafted of the two Cleveland rookies and offers a decently high floor with his ability to execute an offense.
It’s not as sexy as a quarterback competition, but the contract showdowns in Cincinnati might be the biggest storyline in the league heading into training camp. The Bengals are playing hardball with their starting edge rushers, and it has a chance to blow up in their faces…or all could be resolved in a week without further...
