Who Browns 'Want' To Win Starting QB Job Secret Revealed
Who Browns 'Want' To Win Starting QB Job Secret Revealed originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The convoluted Cleveland Browns quarterback room is about to know drama.
And maybe the Browns like it that way. ... because, hey, if you're not going to be good, at least be interesting, right?
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OK, it's too early to suggest that Cleveland is destined for doom. But training camp is less than a month away as four new faces joust for the starting QB job after the Browns learned that Deshaun Watson suffered a significant setback in his recovery from an Achilles injury.
So who's who?
Cleveland added Joe Flacco. And Kenny Pickett. And in the NFL draft, both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Four quarterbacks on the 90-man roster? Not a problem.
A lack of pecking order clarity? The allure of "competition'' aside ...
A problem.
There are certainly expectations and early projections for what the totem pole will look like.
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Some — rather outlandishly — see Sanders leapfrogging everybody.
Many have the wily veteran and fan favorite Flacco earning the starting job with Pickett and the two rookies behind him.
However, new Browns receiver Diontae Johnson has an interesting take about how he sees this quarterback battle shaking out. Johnson believes Pickett is the leader in the clubhouse ahead of training camp.
'I think they are going to roll with Kenny (Pickett) for right now,' Johnson said on the "Sport and Suits" podcast. 'I've been seeing Kenny going like right now with the ones. Then Joe (Flacco) will come in.
"I think they are probably going to roll with (Pickett) just to see like he's coming off a season with Philly and having a Super Bowl. So, I think they are going to stick with him through the preseason. Then you know they can live with Joe and what he brings to the table.'
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And now there is this: While the Browns surely want to keep this a secret should they really feel this way, NFL Network's "The Insiders" league reporter Gregg Rosenthal addressed Johnson's take.
"I think Diontae Johnson is right that the Browns want Kenny Pickett to win the job," Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal went on to say that he predicts "Flacco will win the job.'' But that's an opinion.
If it's a fact that the Browns have a private desire for Pickett to be the guy?
That — and not anybody else in the Cleveland quarterback hierarchy, not even Sanders — is the story.
Related: Analyst Predicts Browns QB Struggles Continue
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 26, 2025, where it first appeared.
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