Was the Joe Flacco trade all about removing a barrier that is keeping Shedeur Sanders off the field? If so, Kevin Stefanski won't say. The coach declined to name his QB2 for the Pittsburgh game. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor’s note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
The Joe Flacco trade story is getting weirder and weirder.
On Tuesday, the club’s announcement of the trade with the Cincinnati Bengals included no quote from a team official. I mean, Flacco took the team to the playoffs in 2023 and might have saved jobs in doing it.
And nobody in the organization wants to acknowledge his contribution to the franchise?
On Wednesday, coach Kevin Stefanski did not mention the trade in his opening remarks to start the Pittsburgh work week. The first question asked of Stefanski was whether Shedeur Sanders was QB2 now.
Stefanski answered:
“Well, first I’d tell you the Joe trade took us by surprise. That was not something that we saw coming. You know, they called us, and it happened very fast, and happened not too long ago. So, still working through all roster types of things.”
Stefanski actually seemed shaken by the turn of events. It leaves him with two rookie quarterbacks who have played a combined total of one NFL game heading into Steelers week. What head coach wants that?
Stefanski admitted he was unaware of any plans to trade Flacco.
So why was the trade made, I asked.
“Well, obviously AB [GM Andrew Berry] makes those decisions,” he answered. “I trust AB. We talk about every decision we make. They wanted Joe, they made the phone call. Obviously, it gives Joe an opportunity to go play again, but I trust in our decisions.”
So, for seven weeks in the long, hot summer, the Browns devoted the majority of No. 1 quarterback reps to Flacco and Kenny Pickett. And now they’re both gone five weeks into the season. Pickett was traded to the Raiders in late August and Flacco now to the Bengals. Berry netted a fifth-round pick in the 2026 draft for each.
I asked Stefanski to explain to fans why those No. 1 reps to Flacco and Pickett now don’t seem like a total waste of time.
“Well, I mean, there’s a lot of unknowns in football and sports,” he stammered, sullenly. “You can’t always predict injuries, you can’t predict trades, those types of things. So, it’s just, that’s sports.”
I asked receiver Jerry Jeudy the same question.
“I won’t say a waste of time,” Jeudy said. “I don’t know what that was. I’m pretty sure everybody thought they’d still be here throughout the season, but, you know, things change.”
Yes, the more things change with the Browns, the more they stay the same.
This Flacco trade rekindles the Josh Dobbs trade prior to the 2023 season. Stefanski was telling media Dobbs was his QB2 at the very time Berry was trading Dobbs to Minnesota. Yes, for that precious fifth-round draft pick.
“Man, it was surprising,” Jeudy said of the Flacco trade. “I didn’t see that coming. Wish Flacco the best.”
All about Shedeur
Even though the Flacco trade cements Dillon Gabriel’s role as QB1, most of the media conversation with Stefanski centered on Sanders, of course.
Throughout training camp and preseason, the coach deliberately denied giving Sanders any reps with the first-team offense. And now he’s going to Pittsburgh with Sanders as the presumed QB2.
Yet, Stefanski couldn’t bring himself to name Sanders the backup quarterback.
“I always have to be mindful of our players, and our players’ development, and I want to make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players and, of course, our team,” Stefanski said. “But with young players, I’m always thinking about last week, making the change to Dillon. You have to think long and hard about that, because these are young players that you’re so invested in their development. So, I’ll let the week play out and make a decision later on.”
After Flacco was benched and Gabriel was named the starting quarterback, Stefanski disclosed that Gabriel had, in fact, taken some reps with the first team through the first four weeks of the season. The Browns always anticipated Gabriel would eventually start some games this year.
As for Sanders, team sources leaked to more than one national “insider” that Sanders probably would not see any action in 2025, that the Browns anticipated “redshirting” him and pick up his development in 2026.
Now, Sanders is “one play away” from being the Browns’ starting quarterback.
So, will Sanders now get some first-team reps? Or, for that matter, would Bailey Zappe, the young veteran on the practice squad, get some first-team reps? One is going to be designated QB2 and one will be QB3.
“Need to work through it all,” Stefanski said. “Again, [I] really like the guys we have, we just got to work through it all.”
Since the Browns have only Gabriel and Sanders on the active 53, there is no emergency QB3, per se. In order for Zappe to be designated QB3, he would have to be signed to the 53. A rules change this year precluded teams from elevating a quarterback on the practice squad to serve as QB3 on game day.
At least 12 teams have gone without emergency QB3s through five weeks.
But none have rookie quarterbacks as QB1 and QB2. Only the Browns.
The Watson factor
Interestingly, Stefanski never mentioned Sanders by name in his Q&A on Wednesday. But he did mention Deshaun Watson before anyone brought him up.
The context came from a question about veteran leadership void created by the trade of Flacco, who was not only the elder statesman of the team but also an offensive captain.
“Yeah, it’s a young room,” Stefanski said. “But I believe in those guys, that they’re all working very hard. Obviously, Bailey’s the elder statesman right now, but Deshaun’s in there, can provide great insight to the young guys.”
Watson – not Sanders – might be the biggest winner of the Flacco trade.
Despite owner Jimmy Haslam’s assertion in March that “we took a big swing and miss with Deshaun ... We thought we had the quarterback. We didn't,” it’s increasingly possible that Watson now will resurface on the active roster – perhaps as soon as after the bye week in early November.
The Browns are paying Watson $46 million this season, the fourth of his five-year contract. So if there is a need for a veteran quarterback, it is likely that Berry – with Haslam’s approval – has pegged Watson for that role.
“He’s working very hard, he’s doing a great job in the meeting room, he’s doing a great job in rehab,” Stefanski said. “He’s been a great teammate from the jump. Like I’ve told you guys in every quarterback meeting and all those guys, when you’re in that room, everybody’s preparing, working hard, working together. So, he’s doing a great job.”
Gabriel is the Browns’ starting quarterback going forward. But if need be to change that, it’s going to be interesting who plays next – Sanders or Watson?
Yes, it’s getting weirder and weirder. Which is what you’d expect from the Browns.