Joe Flacco’s return to Cleveland means there will likely be a training camp battle for the Browns’ starting quarterback job. It almost certainly rules out a trade for Kirk Cousins, too — at least for now.
Flacco and the Browns have agreed on a one-year deal to bring the 40-year-old quarterback back to the team he energized with a four-game win streak amid a playoff push late in the 2023 season.
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The Browns couldn’t bring Flacco back for 2024 because they were overcommitted to Deshaun Watson and worried about Flacco’s popularity in the locker room and with the fan base. Now, Watson is expected to miss most or all of 2025 with a second torn Achilles tendon and is likely no longer in the Browns’ plans.
The focus now is entirely on the draft. Will the Browns take a quarterback at No. 2 overall? Will they wait and take a passer in the second or third round? Might they even trade back into the first round for a player such as Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart? We don’t know, but the key to the Browns trending upward in 2025 seems to be finding the right rookie quarterback.
For now, the Browns have Flacco and Kenny Pickett on one-year deals. They acquired Pickett in a March trade and told the 2022 first-round pick he’d have a chance to compete for the starting job. Flacco returns after making six starts for the Indianapolis Colts last season. The failure of the Watson experiment has left the Browns with limited salary-cap flexibility, so Flacco returning with a $4 million base salary helps the team in the short term.
Flacco ’round and run it back 😏 pic.twitter.com/SwJgepPPZE
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 11, 2025
Flacco was signed to be a tutor and placeholder. He has enough arm and experience to at least temporarily win the starting job, but we’re waiting to see who else joins the mix. Flacco knows the locker room and fits Kevin Stefanski’s preferred offensive scheme, but it’s fair to wonder if he can still play at a starter-quality level.
The Browns will begin to find that out throughout their offseason program, which begins later this month and runs through mid-June. The rookie quarterback figures to play at some point in 2025, but Flacco and Pickett will be given opportunities to prove the Browns are smarter than they currently appear when it comes to the game’s most important position.
(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)
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