Browns QB Sends Stern Message to Shedeur Sanders, Competitors

This Cleveland Browns veteran has sent a strong message to Shedeur Sanders and the other competitors in the team's quarterback competition.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco makes a handoff to running back Dylan Sampson (22) during an NFL practice at the Cleveland Browns training facility on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Cleveland Browns have a four-way competition for the starting quarterback job, with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett as well as rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel battling for the No. 1 role heading into 2025.

The general consensus is that one of Flacco or Pickett will emerge victorious as the Week 1 starter, with both Sanders and Gabriel waiting in the wings to potentially supplant either one of them midway through the season.

However, Flacco clearly has no plans of relinquishing the position if he earns it, and he told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated that he has every intention of blowing away the competition.

“There’s a lot that’s out of your control at a certain point, but my mindset is, 'Dude, I’m gonna win this job, go out there and have an awesome season. And go do it again, and again,'" Flacco said. “My mindset is still that. I’m looking forward to going out there and proving to myself and my family that I still got it, and I’m gonna do this for a couple more years.”

Remember: Flacco famously took over as the Browns' starting quarterback during the back half of 2023 and led Cleveland to a playoff appearance while also winning the Comeback Player of the Year award. He then took a one-year detour with the Indianapolis Colts last year before returning to the Browns earlier this offseason.

Now 40 years old, Flacco clearly does not have much time left on the NFL level, but he seems prepared to make the most of every opportunity that comes his way.

It honestly seems hard to believe that the former Super Bowl champion will lay hold of the starting signal-caller job for the entirety of the 2025 campaign, but that obviously depends on whether or not Sanders or Gabriel show they are ready to usurp him.

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