The Cleveland Browns are a week away from kicking off training camp and haven't gotten any closer to resolving their messy quarterback situation. They have four (uninspiring) options, and one is 40-year-old Joe Flacco, who's back for a second stint with the club.
Many view Flacco as the favorite to win the starting job in Cleveland, which oddsmakers seemingly agree with, and reasonably so. He's the most experienced and accomplished passer of the bunch, and it's not particularly close. His familiarity with head coach Kevin Stefanski and the organization are also ideal. But despite everything, the Browns may already have buyer's remorse about him, and the pads haven't even come on yet.
Browns should already be having second thoughts about Joe Flacco signing
Cleveland signed Flacco to a one-year, $4 million deal worth up to $13 million with incentives in free agency this offseason. It's not a massive commitment, especially considering there are a lot of performance-based/playing time escalators he's unlikely to meet. Nonetheless, no one in the NFL has a higher top-51 player total cap allocation than the Browns, so any money they can save is vital.
As deeply invested as the Browns are in their roster, they don't project to be competitive in 2025 (or anytime soon, for that matter). DraftKings Sportsbook lists them as the favorite to finish with the fewest regular-season wins, narrowly edging out the New Orleans Saints. What do they gain from someone we have nearly two decades of film on and know who he is in Flacco?
Roughly a month before handing Flacco a palatable yet not insignificant contract, the Browns traded for signal-caller Kenny Pickett. Two weeks after the former's arrival, they selected Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel in the fifth round of this year's draft. It's quickly become a crowded positional room, which Cleveland can't afford to maintain, albeit a cost-effective group.
Flacco may give the Browns the best shot at winning games now. Even if that's true and they ultimately roll with him, that's still a detrimental outcome for them; he's not the long-term solution under center. That's not to say Pickett, Sanders or Gabriel are, but Cleveland won't know until it finds out.
Trotting out Flacco would only delay the inevitable for a franchise stuck in QB purgatory. The Super Bowl XLVII MVP is merely a bridge to whoever the Browns' next young thrower is, if he makes it that far. Whether it be Sanders, Gabriel, Pickett or none of the above, he's a placeholder, though the Browns are clearly rebuilding.
That's even if Flacco makes the roster. There is no guarantee that Flacco will secure a 53-man roster spot heading into the season, especially if Pickett, Sanders, and Gabriel play better than him. That's also a reason why Flacco could have some buyer's remorse.
Conversely, the Browns have reportedly debated keeping all four signal-callers on the 53-man roster, which normal organizations don't do. Consequently, if Flacco isn't the starter and sticks around, he's effectively taking someone's spot. That's a poor allocation of resources for a squad bereft of talent on both sides of the ball.