If any team has ever been destined to start four quarterbacks in a given season, it’s the 2025 Cleveland Browns. The room is the league’s biggest mess under center, and with rookie Shedeur Sanders drawing the eyes of the football world, it has the potential to become one of the season’s most frustrating stories.
For now, though, the Browns know who will start the proceedings. Veteran Joe Flacco was named the Week 1 starter on Monday, getting the green light in his age-40 season.
The decision doesn’t seem like a very difficult one. Cleveland lacked quality options, and Flacco’s steady hand gave him a clear head start over the injured Kenny Pickett and two mid-round rookies. He gives the Browns the best chance at a competent offense and offers more paths to upside for several of Cleveland’s weapons.
Joe Flacco is good news for three Browns
No target stands to gain more from decent quarterbacking than receiver Jerry Jeudy.
All three of Jeudy’s 100-yard games came with veteran gunslinger Jameis Winston under center, including his 235-yard explosion against the Denver Broncos. In the most entertaining eight-week span of the season, he logged 51 catches for 806 yards and three touchdowns. That’s good for two-thirds of his yardage and three of his four scores.
Flacco isn’t Winston, but they share an ability (and clear willingness) to stretch the field. Of the 36 quarterbacks with as many plays (291) as Flacco last season, he ranked sixth in air yards per attempt (8.9). Winston, at 9.1 air yards per attempt, ranked third, via Ben Baldwin’s app.
Jeudy is at his best when he can make an impact downfield. And when Flacco made his last cameo in Cleveland — saving its season and earning a spot in the playoffs — it was bombs away with deep play-action passes. With head coach Kevin Stefanski still calling the shots, getting back to what made the offense explosive two seasons ago could sustain the momentum Jeudy found last season.
While Jeudy was still in Denver in 2023, Njoku was in the middle of the Browns offense, threatening up the seam and making plays after the catch. Like the Jeudy-Winston connection from 2024, the injection of Flacco changed the trajectory of Njoku’s 2023 campaign.
MORE: Browns QB battle tracker: How Shedeur Sanders compares to Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett
The two played just five regular-season games together, but the tight end averaged six catches and 78 yards in that span, along with four touchdowns. He became a key player in Stefanki’s offense and posted over 100 yards twice. In the playoff loss to the Houston Texans, he remained reliable, logging seven receptions and 93 yards.
Expect Stefanski to go back to that well, attacking the middle of the field and letting one of his top playmakers buoy the intermediate passing game.
The final winner of Cleveland’s announcement is the man who made the decision. It’s hard to blame the coach for the chaos and controversy that have defined the Browns during his tenure. But at some point, that must have an expiration date.
Flacco is a break from the noise, from the blinding spotlight that comes with Sanders and the futility of the rest of the room. He is a proven commodity and someone Stefanski knows can run the offense. Flacco won’t significantly change the Browns’ win projection or pull them out of conversations for the top passer in April’s NFL Draft. He doesn’t have to. Merely being an adult in the room is a preseason win for Cleveland.
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