The 2025 season promises to be fascinating for the Browns, but not for the typical reasons.
After a 3-14 finish, expectations are understandably low. But Cleveland is embarking upon a new campaign with a unique situation at quarterback. Four candidates -- veteran Joe Flacco, former first-rounder Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders -- are vying for the job, prompting plenty of questions about distribution of practice reps, preseason snaps and final roster composition.
Four is a crowd when it comes to quarterbacks and trimming to a 53-man roster, leading most to believe at least one of the quartet won't make the final cut. Don't be so sure, general manager Andrew Berry advised Thursday.
"We've largely looked at the last five spots of a roster as more developmental spots, and that could come from any position," Berry said, via team transcript. "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 as in the past. ...
"If there are four that are 53-man worthy and we think it makes the most sense for us to keep, then we will."
The beginning of the Browns' offseason made sense. With Deshaun Watson still recovering from a torn Achilles and having already proved he wasn't worth playing again, Cleveland traded UCLA product Dorian Thompson-Robinson to Philadelphia, ending their experiment with him in exchange for Pickett. A month later, they brought back the hero of their 2023 run to the playoffs, Flacco, on a free-agent deal.
Neither move suggested Cleveland was done rebuilding its quarterback room, building anticipation for a draft in which they owned the No. 2 pick. But with the class lacking depth at the position, the Browns waited until the third round to strike, shocking the football public by moving up to select Gabriel, a player most expected to remain on the board until Day 3 of the draft.
At that point, it seemed their work might be done, even if it didn't give Cleveland a clear favorite to start in 2025. But when the fifth round arrived, they moved up again to take a flier on Sanders, a possible first-round prospect who had slid deep in the draft.
The final addition was low risk, but complicated matters. The Browns now had two rookies to evaluate alongside a player with some potential in Pickett, and a known commodity with a short runway in Flacco.
Therein lies the intrigue that makes Cleveland's 2025 training camp fascinating. They'll have to find a way to evaluate each of the four quarterbacks within the constraints of a daily practice schedule, which will include frequent changes to the quarterback rotation. In their first two sessions, distribution already varied significantly. And when the time arrives to trim to 53, they're going to be busy assembling their puzzle pieces with the understanding they might be thinner elsewhere in order to continue exploring their options under center.
The Browns might not win many games in 2025, but they'll be worth watching because of this situation. The hope is they'll find their long-term answer in the process. If they don't, they have two first-round picks in 2026 available to use to climb up and take the next contestant in their seemingly endless search for a solution.
