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).
1. Joe Flacco – Veteran QB
Height: 6-6 | Weight: 230 lbs | Age: 40
Experience: 19 years | College: Delaware
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
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%
2. Kenny Pickett – Flier QB
Height: 6-3 | Weight: 220 lbs | Age: 27
Experience: 4 years | College: Pittsburgh
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
Complicating the Browns’ quarterback situation a little is the fact that they traded a fifth-round pick (in addition to Dorian Thompson-Robinson) for Kenny Pickett, who is coming off of a Super Bowl winning season with the Eagles as their backup. Pickett, a former first-round pick with the Steelers, was underwhelming in his two years there. In 25 games, he threw for 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while having some mobility.
As a backup for the high-octane Eagles offense, he showed a little bit of fire in spot duty, completing 25-of-42 passes for 291 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. From the eye test, Pickett never impressed me when he faced Cleveland as a Steeler, but maybe there’s something Kevin Stefanski cap tap into.
I think there is a marginal change that Pickett could win the opening-day starting job, but both he and Flacco are on one-year deals, so there isn’t a great commitment to either quarterback. Here is one area that Pickett did have some success with in his young NFL career:
Kenny Pickett does a really nice job of recognizing man coverage and finding matchups vs. LB’s he knows his guys can win. #Browns pic.twitter.com/K3V54B1bq4
— Lance Reisland (Coach Riz) (@LanceReisland) June 21, 2025
Regarding Pickett’s roster odds, it’s complicated. Teams usually only carry three quarterbacks maximum on the main roster, but Cleveland drafted two rookies with high picks. Does that mean Flacco or Pickett are the odd man out? But what if the team does want a slightly more experienced player to be the backup? I have Pickett’s odds listed at 50% below, but I feel like they could be a lot lower. Cleveland trading someone would solve the quarterback room situation, but that’s hard to project at this point in time.
Final Roster Odds: 50%