Browns Digest

Cleveland Browns Connected to Baffling QB Trade With Hated Rival

The Cleveland Browns have been linked to a pretty wild quarterback trade with a bitter rival.
May 14, 2021; Berea, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski (left) watches camp with general manager Andrew Berry during rookie minicamp at the Cleveland Browns Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
May 14, 2021; Berea, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski (left) watches camp with general manager Andrew Berry during rookie minicamp at the Cleveland Browns Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Browns certainly have quite the quarterback conundrum heading into 2025, as they brought in four new signal-callers this offseason and do not have a clear starter.

The Browns swung a trade for Kenny Pickett, signed Joe Flacco in free agency and nabbed both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in the NFL Draft.

While Sanders is the popular choice to start, there is no guarantee that he will have a strong training camp showing in Cleveland, and even if he does, the Browns may be more inclined to start the veteran Flacco in the early stages of the campaign.

Well, that's if Cleveland doesn't trade him first.

Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox has put together an NFL trade big board, and Flacco made the list. But here's where things get really weird: Knox has listed the Pittsburgh Steelers as a potential landing spot for the 40-year-old.

"The Pittsburgh Steelers may also have interest in a veteran like Flacco if Aaron Rodgers doesn't sign with them," Knox wrote. "The 41-year-old has yet to decide whether he'll play in 2025, but Pittsburgh does have interest in adding him. ... The Browns might ask for a premium if they were to trade a quarterback to a division rival, though."

Uh, you think?

Look: there is no absolutely no way that Cleveland would help an AFC North rival. The Steelers need a quarterback, and the Browns know this. So why would Cleveland actually assist them by sending them Flacco?

Not that Flacco is a world-beater by any stretch, but he is still a better option than what Pittsburgh is currently employing.

The Browns certainly do not want to be responsible for potentially putting the Steelers into the playoffs.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.