Joe Flacco: The right QB, at the right time, for the Browns

The Cleveland Browns have tried every trick and combination imaginable to address the quarterback crisis that has plagued the team for over 30 years. 

This time, they may have gotten it mostly right. 

For the upcoming 2025 season, the Browns have adopted a formula that has been popular for decades: bringing in a veteran to hold things together while developing a rookie, or in this case, a pair of rookies, at the position.

The Browns have tried this numerous times before, of course, with less than stellar results. But this time could be different because the veteran in question is Joe Flacco.

Heading into his 18th season in the NFL, Flacco appears at ease with the situation. While still competitive and not ready to concede the starting role, he also comes off as someone who understands that at some point this fall, he may have to turn the office over to either Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel. 

But until then, Flacco remains focused on reminding everyone that he still has it (quotes via a team-provided transcript):

“I’m just out here enjoying it and doing the best I can every single day, trying to show these guys that, man, I can do it. You should have confidence in me. When I talk to my wife at night, you know, maybe she’s not as patient. But listen, I’m having a lot of fun just going out there and slamming it around a practice right now, and I’m doing a good job just kind of keeping my feet where they are, and that’s all I can do right now.”

He also likes the fact that he can hang in there with his much younger competition:

“There is part of me that wishes we were doing three-hour practices because I could show that I could last through those, too. It’s not that much of an accomplishment to kind of come out here and make it through a training camp, but I do feel like if I were grinding three hours, two and a half hours every day, I could still go through that. I wish I could show that a little bit. But hey, you know, I think some of it, a lot of it, is taking care of your body and learning how to do that. You gain knowledge as you’re in the league. But also like you just, you know, throughout my football career I’ve had a couple injuries, but most of all I’ve been pretty fortunate on just what I’ve been given and the situations I’ve been given.”

Beyond his talent, Flacco’s attitude is what sets him apart from past veteran quarterbacks who have come to the Browns and failed. He is not ill-fitted to the offense like Jeff Garcia in 2004, insecure like Trent Dilfer in 2005, or burdened with a knucklehead rookie like Brian Hoyer was in 2014.

And that, in addition to everything else, is what makes Flacco the right quarterback at the right time for the Browns in 2025.