Joe Flacco is a starting quarterback again. The Cleveland Browns announced Monday that Flacco, a 40-year-old veteran, will be the team's QB1. To earn the starting role, Flaccohad to beat out four other competitors: Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and therecently acquiredTyler Huntley. Joe Cool leading the way 🫡We've named Joe Flacco our starting quarterback. — Cleveland Browns (@Browns)August 18, 2025 Flacco has continually held the edge in the race to be named the starter. He has been consistentlyatop the unofficial depth chartsthroughout the preseason, followed by Pickett at QB2 and then Gabriel, Sanders, Huntley and the injured Deshaun Watson all listed at QB3. Pickett, who appeared poised to compete with Flacco for the starting job,suffered a hamstring injuryin camp, while Sanders suffered an oblique injury that held him out of Week 2 of the preseason. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Of the Browns' QB room, Flacco and Pickett are the only two who have yet to play in the preseason. Sandersmade his NFL debut with a solid showingin the first game against the Carolina Panthers, while Gabrielstarted in Saturday's winover the Philadelphia Eagles. Huntley played in both games as a backup. On Sunday, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that the team would be naming its starterahead of the final preseason gamethis weekend, in order to treat the game as a dress rehearsal for the regular season. As a result, Flacco will make his preseason debut with Cleveland as the Browns take on the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday. Flacco was the Baltimore Ravens' starting quarterback for 11 seasons, notably winning a Super Bowl with the team in the 2012 season. He has bounced between four different teams for the past few seasons. Flacco's last stint with Cleveland, in 2023, ended with the veteran winning Comeback Player of the Year. Flacco signed with the Browns late in that season to replace an injured Watson and ended up leading the team to the playoffs. Having previously worked with the Browns, Flacco showed more promise as a Week 1 starter, with his experience and familiarity with the system serving as a leg up over the younger Pickett. Cleveland has had one of the most competitive quarterback races in the NFL this year, with the Browns holding a large number of very different QB options. At this point in the preseason, the Browns have six quarterbacks under contract: Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, Sanders, Huntley and Watson, who is out againafter tearing his Achilles twice last year. The seemingly always-injured Watson (who Browns owner Jimmy Haslamrecently admitted was a mistake to trade for) was not expected to be a part of the quarterback race. That left the remaining five. Early in training camp, Flacco and Pickett emerged as clear frontrunners for the job,taking the most first-team snapsand overall showing the most promise as starters. Pickett, a fourth-year veteransuffered a hamstring injurybefore returning to training camp a week later. With Pickett out, Flacco, the most experienced of the group, took control of the QB1 spot prior to the first preseason game. In the Browns' first unofficial depth chart prior to the first preseason game, Flacco was listed as QB1, with Pickett as QB2 after returning from injury. Rookies Gabriel and Sanders were listed as third- and fourth-string, respectively. The two rookies have been largely working with backups throughout the start of training camp, with Sanderseven working with members of the equipment team. Gabriel has also been limited in practice due to his own hamstring injury, though he still held in front of Sanders in the initial review. And Huntley, a career backup who spent some time with the Browns last season, largely seems to be a last-second addition in case either Gabriel or Pickett's injuries extend longer than expected. It's unclear whether he will make it to the 53-man roster, especially considering the number of quarterbacks that Cleveland is holding.
