While the Browns announced Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback, Adam Schefter insists they’ll keep four on the 53-man roster. They certainly might, but at the same time, it could be announcement to the rest of the league. In other words, if you’re thinking of scooping up one of our quarterbacks, you better pick up the phone.
“I expect the Cleveland Browns to carry four quarterbacks on their final 53-man roster”, Schefter said on NFL Live yesterday. “They’re gonna keep both rookies. They’re gonna keep [Joe] Flacco. So, really, we’re talking about Kenny Pickett, and I expect he makes the roster, because quarterbacks are currency”.
To start the offseason, the Browns acquired Kenny Pickett via trade to rebuild their quarterback room. Of course, even now, they still have Deshaun Watson, but he is recovering from injury. A short time later, they signed Flacco, who played for them a couple years back. Rather than target their second choice at quarterback in the draft behind Cam Ward, they waited.
And waited. In fact, the Browns didn’t take a quarterback until the third round, and when they did, they picked Dillon Gabriel. As Shedeur Sanders continued to slide, they put him out of his misery, taking him in the fifth.
Throughout the offseason, the Browns insisted they would hold a competition for the starting quarterback. Even if that is what they intended, injuries prevented it from happening. Pickett, Gabriel, and Sanders all missed significant time due to injuries, especially Pickett. He suffered an injury early in camp and hasn’t practiced fully since.
Cleveland has the most invested, of course, in its rookies, Gabriel and Sanders. Both showed some flashes during the preseason, and it’s understandable if they wouldn’t wish to let either one go. Pickett isn’t a bad player, either, and you don’t necessarily want two rookie backups. Joe Flacco is the known quantity at quarterback for the Browns, but he also isn’t getting any younger.
Flacco was really the last man standing for Cleveland, even if Gabriel is now back. For a rookie to have missed as much time as he did, however, there was no plausible chance of him being the Browns’ starter. If Pickett or Sanders had been fully healthy, perhaps they could have made things more interesting.
As it was, the Browns’ quarterback competition was very boring, and very predictable. While we now know the starter, though, the intrigue is in the depth chart. We don’t know who the backup will be—and we don’t know how seriously they want to keep four quarterbacks.
I have no doubt that the Browns actually like all four of the quarterbacks they have. But there’s a reason some teams keep only two—and why nobody keeps four unless injuries necessitate it. That’s why many believe this is a ploy for the Browns to try to swing one of their quarterbacks via trade. As is Schefter’s massive hint that quarterbacks are currency. And hey, if the Steelers carry two punters in the hopes of trading one of them, it’s not unreasonable.
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