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Whispers surfaced in June hinting that the Cleveland Browns could carry quarterbacks Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel on their active roster through at least Week 1 of the 2025 regular season.
While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry confirmed he could consider a unique idea regarding the club’s quarterback situation.
“We’ve largely looked at the last five spots of a roster as more developmental spots, and that can come from any position,” Berry explained via Browns.com. “I also think with the roster flexibility nowadays, especially with the elevations that you’re able to have on the practice squad, there’s just more flexibility in terms of how to build your 48-man game day roster, where it’s maybe not as quite as restrictive in the past. …If there are four (quarterbacks) that are 53-man worthy, we think it makes the most sense for us to keep them.”
While Berry made it known he’s less than thrilled that Sanders was cited for speeding in Ohio twice in June, the former Colorado star and Gabriel are both expected to be on Cleveland’s roster when September arrives. That said, it’s clear that only Flacco and Pickett are competing for the QB1 gig ahead of the Browns’ preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers on Aug. 8.
It was previously suggested that some Browns personnel “want” Pickett to win the starting job since he’s only 27 years old, while Flacco will turn 41 in January. On Thursday, Berry indicated he will let head coach Kevin Stefanski determine who starts Cleveland’s Week 1 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 7.
“I think you guys know us well enough that we work really well together in that regard,” Berry said about his relationship with Stefanski. “But at the end of the day, I trust him. I trust our coaching staff in terms of who they want to play. I think we’ll get a lot more information over the next few weeks.”
It remains to be seen how Berry would respond if a team were to lose a quarterback to an injury and consider trading for either Flacco or Pickett to the Browns. For now, it appears there’s a realistic chance that those two signal-callers could continue sharing a quarterback room with Cleveland’s rookies beyond this summer.
