The Cleveland Browns have finally tipped their hand as to who will start for the team in its season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals early next month.
Cleveland released it’s first unofficial depth chart on Monday, August 4, in which the franchise named veteran Joe Flacco as the current QB1. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com shared the information to her X account.
“#Browns’ first unofficial depth chart of the 2025 preseason,” Cabot captioned the list.
Flacco is currently QB1, while injured signal-caller Kenny Pickett came in as QB2. The team slotted third-round rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel as its No. 3, while fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders begins the preseason slate as the fourth-string option.
Kenny Pickett’s Hamstring Injury Cleared Path for Joe Flacco to Claim QB1 Job
GettyCleveland Browns quarterbacks Kenny Pickett (left) and Joe Flacco (right).
Flacco earning the first-team nod isn’t particularly surprising after Pickett suffered a hamstring injury at practice on July 26. At that point, head coach Kevin Stefanski indicated Flacco would get the majority of the starting reps moving forward, or at least until Pickett returned to practice.
Pickett did so on a limited basis late last week, though Stefanski would not commit to a timeline for the quarterback’s return to full action.
“He’s pushing himself to get back to full team periods as soon as possible. We’re also going to be smart and be appropriate with where he is,” Stefanski said on Saturday, August 2. “But I thought he did a nice job yesterday, and we’ll continue to work that day to day.”
Pickett also had a conversation with reporters on August 2, during which admitted it will probably take him a few weeks to get back to full capacity, at least in terms of mobility, after he eventually returns to practice as a full participant.
“I’ll have to manage it whenever I’m back, probably a few weeks after, based on the injury and where I’m at,” Pickett said. “But I think it gives me a great opportunity just to work from the pocket, find check downs, really improve my game from the pocket. So, I think if I look at it with that lens, it could be a real positive.”
Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders Getting Majority of Trade Buzz in Browns QB Room
GettyQuarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns.
The primary issue for Pickett is time, as the majority of insiders around the NFL expect the Browns will make their final intentions for the QB1 spot clear by mid-August and likely trade one of their four signal-callers before Week 1.
Pickett is probably the favorite now to end up on the trade block, simply because he won’t get the chance to show himself at his best over the next two or three weeks, which are the most important of the preseason.
However, multiple former players have made strong assertions over the last week or so that Sanders could end up a trade chip for the Browns before summer gives way to fall and the regular season begins.
“He goes out there and does something like he did today — nine for nine, two touchdowns — [31] other teams are watching,” former NFL CB Asante Samuel said. “This might be the first time we see in history that something bizarre happens where a team tries to make a trade for him.”
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