The Cleveland Browns enter the 2025 NFL season with Joe Flacco as the team’s starting quarterback.
Flacco beat out Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders for the starting job, but all reports have indicated that both could get playing time this season. However, Browns analyst Aaron Goldhammer expects Flacco to start every game this season.
“Well, I said it earlier this week, you guys might think I’m crazy, I’m going with 17,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith expects Flacco to play well to deserve to start every game. Meanwhile, Sanders and Gabriel won’t show enough in practice to warrant getting a start over Flacco.
If Gabriel and Sanders both don’t start a game this season, it would be bad news for either quarterback being a long-term answer for the Browns. If neither can beat out Flacco for a start this season, the Browns could very well use a high pick in 2026 to be their franchise quarterback.
Should that happen, Gabriel and Sanders’ future on the Browns’ roster past the 2025 NFL season would be murky.
Flacco signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Browns this offseason.
Browns Coach Praises Flacco
Flacco will start for Cleveland in Week 1 at home against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Browns will trust the veteran to begin the year, as Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski has been impressed with Flacco’s play leading up to Week 1.
“Joe’s done a nice job. I would go back to how we structured the offseason, how we structured training camp, named him the starter going into that (Los Angeles) Rams week,” Stefanski said. “And he’s gotten all of the work since then with those ones to sharpen up his game, get comfortable with the guys around him. So, he’s done a really nice job to date.”
Flacco, meanwhile, says he’s feeling good ahead of Week 1 and is ready to be back as a starting quarterback.
“I feel good. I think it’s just the constant reminders of just, play your role, do your part,” Flacco said. “This is a team game, and it’s about all of us going out there and preparing to do our job the right way. Getting through training camp and getting ready to go into this opener, I feel good.”
Flacco went 162-for-248 for 1,761 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions with the Indianapolis Colts last season. He led the Browns to the playoffs in 2023.
Insider Believes Browns Will Use Multiple QBs in 2025
Although Goldhammer thinks Flacco will start every game this season, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot disagrees.
Cabot expects that both Gabriel and Sanders will get playing time this season. But whether that is them starting or coming into relief is unknown.
“The Browns will start Joe Flacco for as long as he’s operating the offense effectively, and winning games,” Cabot wrote Sunday, August 31. “But if he’s turning the ball over or taking sacks, the Browns will hand the reins to Gabriel without hesitation. They loved what they saw of Gabriel in camp and preseason games, and won’t hesitate to start him even if it’s early in the season. As for Sanders, he’ll also get some live action this season, but probably not until later in the season when he’s more seasoned.”
For now, Flacco will be the Browns’ starting quarterback at least for Week 1.
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