Who should be the Browns Week 1 starting quarterback?
— Draft Wire (@TheDraftWire) June 3, 2025
As OTAs press on for the Cleveland Browns, they have a fascinating situation at quarterback. After giving Deshaun Watson a massive contract in 2022 after trading for him, he’s turned out to be a massive bust. Watson is now going to miss the entirety of the 2025 season after an Achilles injury, which actually makes the Browns quarterback mess slightly less complicated.
The Browns’ quarterback depth chart currently looks like this:
Joe Flacco
Kenny Pickett
Dillon Gabriel
Shedeur Sanders
Putting aside the debate as to whether or not Cleveland will even keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, there is plenty of drama about who should or will start Week One when the Browns take on the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s a question we posed over on X.
There will always be a strong push for the Browns to start rookie Shedeur Sanders after his perceived slide in the 2025 NFL draft. Most reports coming out of Browns OTAs paint Sanders as a perfect prospect, which we all understand isn’t true but it will be interesting to see if Browns executives feel pressure from the fanbase and the media to push Sanders up the depth chart even if it isn’t deserved.
Meanwhile, veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett are the two guys who should get the bulk of the snaps and be the real position battle, with Sanders and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel battling it out to be the team’s emergency quarterback this season. Cast your vote and let us know who you think should start in Week One.