Browns leadership officially on the hot seat as Joe Flacco named Bengals starter

The Cleveland Browns are having yet another nightmare season. And we are only five weeks in.

The biggest issue once again is at the quarterback position. Joe Flacco started the season after winning the job by default once the team decided to trade Kenny Pickett. Unfortunately, Flacco looked like he had aged 100 years since 2023 and was benched for Dillon Gabriel after only four games.

While Flacco was benched, he was still expected to be the backup and mentor to Gabriel. That all changed on Tuesday when Flacco was traded to the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals, leaving Bailey Zappe as the experienced veteran in the quarterback room alongside Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Technically, Deshaun Watson is hanging around as well.

The Bengals made the deal after seeing Jake Browning look historically bad in three losses since Joe Burrow went down in Week 2 with a brutal toe injury. Clearly, they see potential in Flacco to save their season and keep them afloat until Burrow can return.

All eyes are now on Cincinnati to see how Flacco performs. How he plays may also determine if Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski keep their jobs beyond the 2025 season.

Let's start with the head coach in Stefanski. He worked magic late in 2023 with Flacco to get the team to the postseason. That led some fans to believe the same would be true once again in 2025. That was not the case, as Flacco looked immobile and failed to reach 200 passing yards in three of his four starts.

If he goes to the Bengals and is suddenly producing again, ownership may be curious why that was not happening under Stefanski. That will remain true even while noting he has two elite weapons in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins down in Cincinnati.

The only saving grace for the head coach may be that he was seemingly not on board with trading the veteran away.

"As a fan who wants the Browns to be good, I agree with that, but I don't know if Kevin thinks that way." #DawgPound @ryantyler33 isn't sure if Kevin's chronological order of QBs will align with the future. pic.twitter.com/ShgQxwJjbF
— The BIG Factor (@TheBIGFactor) October 8, 2025

Multiple media outlets discussed how Stefanski appeared shocked by the trade, as he may have planned to go back to Flacco at some point this season.

Kevin Stefanski: "The Joe [Flacco] trade took us by surprise. That's not something that we saw coming. They called us."
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) October 8, 2025

This shifts the attention to Berry. He is ultimately the one who picks the players and makes the final decision on the roster. If Flacco succeeds elsewhere, questions will be asked about why he was traded so early in the year for a late-round pick, leaving Gabriel without any veteran leadership around him. Don't forget, Flacco was voted as a team captain by his peers this season.

Berry is already under fire from the fans from his confusing quarterback plan for this season. Whether Stefanski was fully involved with the decisions remains to be known.

This plan involved a four-man competition in camp, only to trade the presumable frontrunner in Pickett after he suffered a hamstring injury. This left Flacco, with the other options being two rookies who were not taken early enough to be considered surefire starters, or even capable NFL starting quarterbacks.

If the plan was to win in 2025, the Browns are in deep trouble with this leadership team. If the plan was to tank and ownership was on board, that is an entirely different story.

The Haslams cannot be thrilled to see Baker Mayfield in the MVP hunt down in Tampa Bay while Watson continues to serve as an albatross on the financial books.

If Flacco is the next former Browns quarterback to have a resurgence elsewhere, it would be hard to rationalize giving Berry and Stefanski yet another shot to choose a new quarterback in 2026.