The Cleveland Browns are at the bottom of the AFC North. Is anyone surprised? We didn’t think so.
Now here’s the more concerning part: There’s an obvious primary reason the Browns are 1-3, fresh off a 24-point defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions. And that reason is the man under center.
Let’s be clear: Joe Flacco is far from the only reason the Browns are ailing. Besides the fact this franchise is in a perpetual state of turmoil, the current roster was never expected to support a signal-caller to a consistently professional degree. Rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. entered Week 4 as the club’s leading receiver, for crying out loud. And yet coach Kevin Stefanski chose to open 2025 with Flacco, a 40-year-old journeyman, as the starting quarterback in part because he brought a base level of competence.
That level has dropped. Two years after he spearheaded an improbable playoff bid as a last-second emergency starter for Cleveland, Flacco fully looks his age. Two years after feeding a not-retired Amari Cooper and a fresher David Njoku, the grizzled gunslinger leads all quarterbacks in total turnovers (8) through four games, and his completion rate (58.1%) ranks among the NFL’s worst starters. The two most basic necessities — completing and controlling the ball — are far from givens under his direction.
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After Sunday’s loss, Stefanski redirected pointed questions about Flacco to the offense as a whole, but in doing so, he gently left the door open for a warranted evaluation of the position: “I understand the question, especially when we are struggling the way we are on offense,” he said of a potential quarterback swap. “But that’s not our focus right now. … Right now, we have too many things going wrong, and we all own that. It isn’t because of one player.”
Notice these two key phrases amid the coach-speak:
“I understand the question.”
“That’s not our focus right now.”
The first phrase is the greatest indication yet that Stefanski is prepared to usher Flacco to the bench sooner than later; he’s literally acknowledging there’s a debate to be had, or a finger to be pointed. And even if he rightly wants to point it across the board rather than at the aging man at the controls, he’s only declining to publicly entertain a quarterback shakeup “right now.” Here’s a little NFL communications tip: If a key decision-maker repeats phrases like “right now,” it just means they reserve the right to change their mind in a hurry. Their plans, as always, are subject to change in a heartbeat.
But is a change actually, truly justified? Is this what the Browns need at 1-3?
Um, yes.
This isn’t a campaign to have a very accomplished veteran quarterback lose his starting job as much as it is a plea to Stefanski and the rest of the Browns staff to exercise some big-picture sense. We can understand why Flacco was tabbed to lead the charge into 2025, even as a retread rental. The last time he worked with Stefanski, the Browns ended up in the postseason. Except that was also ages ago in NFL time. Since that magical but short-lived run, Cleveland is 4-17. And practically everyone from the top on down knew, coming into this year, that the roster was not even close to being “a quarterback away.”
So why bother with him at all? To establish a culture for a totally overhauled quarterback room. To set the tone for professional preparation and execution. And maybe, just maybe, to eke out a win or three and stay competitive in the scrappy AFC North alongside a feisty Jim Schwartz-led defense.
Well, four games in, Flacco may have made his mark in the quarterback room. He may have shown much younger teammates what it’s like to do business at the NFL level. But his execution as the guy who touches the ball on every snap has left a lot to be desired, hence the Browns sitting at the basement of the North despite also boasting the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed per game. Is Stefanski really interested in waiting around for Flacco to rediscover his touch? For what? To win another game by mid-October? To ensure Flacco goes into retirement as a No. 1? If he was always the designated placeholder, isn’t this precisely the kind of slumping start that might prompt a place-changing?
The New York Giants just provided the blueprint for this very ordeal: They signed Russell Wilson, a proven vet, to be the de facto starter of a remade bunch, and once he proved too sluggish to drive an NFL offense in the year 2025, they pivoted to their higher-upside investment. Jaxson Dart promptly rewarded them with a spicy upset in Week 4. Now do the Browns have a Dart-level alternative waiting behind Flacco? Not necessarily. But maybe! After all, they spent not one but two 2025 draft picks on quarterbacks in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders; they literally have even more reasons to turn the page under center.
It’s not as if Stefanski is averse to the prospect of thrusting these youngsters into the fire. The Browns trading veteran reserve Kenny Pickett just before the season broadcast to the rest of the NFL their willingness to have Gabriel and/or Sanders see extensive playing time; Flacco is 40 years old, remember, and even if he had been lighting it up, who’s to say Father Time wouldn’t have struck via injury, prompting Gabriel, the rookie No. 2, to inherit the offense indefinitely?
Again, the only way the Browns were ever going to keep Flacco under center for the whole season was if they surprised early and stayed competitive in the North, but if he’s an actual impediment, there’s double the reason to gamble with a fresh face. Can Gabriel be that much worse? Maybe his lauded short-area accuracy could speed up Stefanski’s attack? Maybe not? Even then, isn’t the potential growth opportunity worth that risk? Odds are the Browns will be back in the market for more help at this position come 2026, but don’t Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry want to know if they’ve got any diamonds in the rough before then?
And, look, if you’re of the opinion Gabriel or Sanders would simply be swallowed up by Cleveland’s other issues, you might be right, but what’s their alternative? Sit around until the whole organization is cleaned out (again)? Demand a trade without taking meaningful snaps? You can bet, if asked, they wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to show their stuff, even in not-ideal circumstances.
So why hasn’t Stefanski already made the call? Unlike, say, Brian Daboll in New York, his own job atop the Browns’ staff might feel a bit more secure. He’s not necessarily as desperate for an immediate spark, given both his deeper track record (two playoff runs) and previous success with Flacco. There’s also some personal history: This kind of transition is treading new ground for Stefanski. At every stop he’s had as either an offensive coordinator or head coach, he’s worked with a veteran as the regular starter: Kirk Cousins with the Minnesota Vikings (2018-2019), Baker Mayfield upon his arrival in Cleveland, and then a combination of Deshaun Watson, Jacoby Brissett and Flacco in recent Browns seasons. The last time Stefanski held an NFL job where a rookie was a full-timer under center was 2014 with Teddy Bridgewater.
It’s possible, maybe even probable, he’ll keep holding out, sticking with the proven man, through Week 5. The Browns, after all, are headed overseas for an international contest with his old team, the Vikings. That doesn’t exactly scream “ideal first start” for Gabriel or Sanders: away from home, on literal foreign turf, against an endless barrage of Brian Flores blitzes. But don’t be surprised if even he thinks twice about the decision before then and, more so, during that game against the Vikings. Because unless Flacco reverts to early-career form and starts dropping bombs to upset Minnesota in London, the Browns are shaping up to be the next team to give a brand new signal-caller his first real crack at the NFL game.