It’s that time of year. The time of year when Cleveland sports talk can go wild.
Yes, the Cleveland Browns will open training camp soon. In fact, the rookies have already reported to Berea to officially begin their NFL careers. And because it is northeast Ohio, Mason Graham, the fifth overall pick in last spring’s NFL Draft may be under less scrutiny than anyone picked that high will ever be focused on.
Because in this town, we are obsessed with who will play quarterback this season. Will it be one of two rookies, both drafted later in the selection process, one in Round three and the other in Round five?
Or will it be the 40-year-old former Super Bowl winner who rescued the 2023 season for Cleveland winning games down the stretch and taking the Browns to the playoffs?
Perhaps the Browns can turn to a former first round pick by the Steelers in 2022, who has a career record as a starter of 15-10, but last year was a backup for the Super Bowl champions?
Most likely, coach Kevin Stefanski’s choice will be one of the latter choices. It is hard to see him going with a rookie after last season’s 3-14 debacle.
Although Stefanski has guided the Browns to two playoff appearances in his five years at the helm, he and GM Andrew Berry should be on the hot seat after last year’s performance.
The scuttlebutt says they are safe, but it is difficult to see the pair surviving another year like 2024. And really, if Cleveland finishes 4-13 in ’25 and has a pair (they have Jacksonville’s first round pick from the draft day trade) of top ten picks, would you really want Berry making those selections?
We understand the speculation of “seeing what Kenny Pickett has” from the media, but if your job was on the line, and assuming Joe Flacco isn’t throwing the football to the defense on a regular basis in practice, wouldn’t you rather have the proven veteran under center to start the season?
We look forward to hearing about the daily progress of the rookies, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, how many completions out of how many throws in drills, and of course, the inevitable discussion of whether or not one of them should start after a solid performance in a pre-season game.
Because no doubt, they will play a lot in the exhibition contests. We are sure Pickett will also see some time, and perhaps Flacco will even make an appearance too, although we would expect him not to see the field all that often.
Everyone knows what Flacco can do by this point in his career.
Maybe Stefanski and Berry have been assured by ownership they are safe no matter what happens this season, and the 2025 campaign is all about getting clarification on the quarterback position before next year’s draft.
If so, that’s a bold choice from a franchise whose motto seems to be “free beer tomorrow”.
It would also be a slap in the face to veterans like Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, David Njoku, and others. Those guys want to win.
Our guess is Stefanski will want this edition of the Browns to run the ball, run the ball, and do more running of the ball and have Jim Schwartz work his magic with the defense to win football games, especially during the tough stretch to open the year.
Yep, it’s football time in Cleveland.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 