Ex-Lions QB reveals reason for leaning toward Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel over Joe Flacco for Browns QB1

Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky made his thoughts clear on the Cleveland Browns' quarterback battle. With Shedeur Sanders, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett competing for the starting spot, the Browns are one of the biggest mysteries heading into next season.

Given how well he performed in 2023, Flacco appears to be the early frontrunner for the QB1 role.

During Friday's episode of "Cousin Sal's Winning Weekend," Orlovsky said he believes that making Flacco the starter would be harmful for Cleveland in the long run.

"I just think situation wise, you know, Joe is obviously very accomplished, but I think that you would be hard pressed to get me to start Joe Flacco if I was Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry," Orlovsky said.

"But if Joe Flacco plays good solid football for you, and you go 9-8, what does that really do for the big picture? And eventually the big picture needs to be the main picture in Cleveland."

Instead, he mentioned that he would like to see Kevin Stefanski give more opportunities to the rookies, Sanders and Gabriel, unless he thinks they will be terrible.

"And I would be a little bit more like if it was very close 55-45 type of thing, Flacco to one of those rookies, either Gabriel or Shedeur, I would start them, and I would see, did we somehow stumble into fools gold?" Orlovsky said. "The only way I would start Joe is if I felt both of those rookies would be utter disasters.”

Joe Flacco makes his thoughts clear on "mentoring" Browns rookie QBs

Amid all the comments regarding Joe Flacco's willingness to help Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel during the 2025 season, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback prefers to show them how things should be done instead of being a mentor.

After Cleveland's Wednesday OTAs, Flacco said, regardless of his answer to whether he wants to be a mentor, he'd look bad.

"If I say I don't want to be a mentor, I look bad," Flacco said. "If I say I do want to be a mentor, then I look like an idiot that doesn't care about being good at playing football."

This situation could be one of the biggest storylines entering training camp. The Browns have four quarterbacks with different abilities, expectations and experience, all battling for the Week 1 starting nod.