Browns turning to Joe Flacco says everything about Shedeur Sanders

The Cleveland Browns' quarterback competition is officially over. Head coach Kevin Stefanski has named 40-year-old Joe Flacco QB1, depending on the pedigree of a former Super Bowl champ who led Cleveland to the playoffs in 2023. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport broke the news:

This has long felt inevitable, especially after an injury knocked Kenny Pickett out of preseason competition. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel both impressed in their recent starts, but the Browns — a team dead set on contending this season — were never turning to a rookie out of the gate.

Flacco has a big-time arm and he's unafraid to use it, but he's also immobile in the pocket and prone to turnover problems as a result. He's also 40, which... is a lot of years for an NFL player. That's not to say Flacco can't put together one more productive season, but he is clearly not the future of this Browns offense.

Many thought Sanders, after a strong camp and a mesmerizing preseason debut, might actually give Stefanski second thoughts about Flacco. Clearly that was not the case, but it's fair to wonder how long Cleveland commits to Flacco if things go south this season, as that feels inevitable.

Browns name Joe Flacco QB1, but Shedeur Sanders is lurking

Sanders was easily the most wall-to-wall impressive of Cleveland's quarterbacks this summer. It's unwise to put too much stock into practice reports and preseason games, but Sanders generated remarkably positive reviews at every turn. He faces more media scrutiny than any fifth-round pick ever, which has its benefits and its drawbacks. Sanders received special attention at Browns camp as a result of his status. But that also put more pressure on him to perform, which he did.

Flacco will start under center Week 1, but is that a season-long arrangement? It will be if the Browns are competitive, but very little about Cleveland's roster, coaching situation and front office leads me to believe the Browns will be scrapping for a postseason spot down the stretch.

If Flacco proves unable to lead the Browns to the promised land in the twilight of his career, the question becomes... who's next in line? Has Sanders earned that spot through a strong summer, or will Kenny Pickett stick around and ice out the rookies? And what about Dillon Gabriel, who the Browns did pick two rounds earlier than Sanders? These are questions we don't really know the answer to yet.

Shedeur Sanders facing an uphill battle with Browns

While the conventional wisdom is that Sanders was a) way better than his fifth-round draft slot and b) the most impressive of Cleveland's quarterbacks in camp, NFL teams don't always abide by standard logic. Sanders was the 144th overall pick in the draft, 50 spots lower than Gabriel. He is, on paper, the Browns QB closest to the chopping block. If his name wasn't Shedeur Sanders, if he wasn't thought of as a first-round talent by so many folks pre-draft, I'm not sure we are even talking about this.

Most fifth-round quarterbacks end up on a roster, but Cleveland has four QBs right now — not to mention an injured Deshaun Watson. That is a preposterously large crowd. Most NFL teams don't carry more than three into the regular season, if that. So there's a world in which the Browns just cut or trade Sanders and move on, despite all the preseason hubbub.

That feels like the wrong move here — Sanders was so, so good at Colorado, despite all the white noise around him — but it's worth just noting the possibility. Cleveland has done very little to actually express faith in Sanders, besides letting him start a preseason game when the vets were hurt. As such, Sanders' future in the organization is far from a certainty.