Game Of Throws: When will the Browns find their franchise QB?

What should be the Cleveland Browns No. 1 priority entering the 2025 NFL season?

The same priority they have every season, Pinky!

Try to find a franchise quarterback!

Unfortunately, it seems like The Nightmare on Lake Erie is destined to continue until at least 2026.

The Dawg Pound wasn’t happy when I compared the QB carousel in Cleveland to a horror movie franchise.

After watching the Browns final pre-season game, I’m committed to the metaphor.

Joe Flacco went 9-of-10 for 71 yards and a touchdown to remind everyone in Cleveland why a 40-year-old will start the team’s Week 1 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Kenny Pickett is QB2 on the depth chart, but his status is in doubt after he missed the entire pre-season with a hamstring injury.

Deshaun Watson will start the season on the IR.

That left rookie third round pick Dillon Gabriel, rookie fifth round pick Shedeur Sanders, and veteran Tyler Huntley split the remaining snaps.

Huntley isn’t on the roster, anymore.

Gabriel appeared to solidify his spot as the QB3 after he went 11-of-17 for 129 yards and a touchdown.

Sanders struggled mightily in the exhibition finale.

Look, I get it, it wasn’t all his fault.

Still, he somehow managed to finish with more sacks (5) than passes completed (3) and didn’t complete a throw on any of the six plays when he was blitzed.

I completely agree that he wasn’t put in position to succeed.

I also saw a couple of plays where he had an opportunity to step up in the pocket and throw the ball to an open receiver and he didn’t.

Any optimism Browns fans had after his pre-season debut seem to have dissipated already and while nobody is writing him off just yet, we still don’t even know what the franchise plans to do at the position.

Flacco will be the QB1 and it appears as though Pickett will back him up if he’s healthy enough Week 1.

The Browns must cut their roster down to 53 players by Tuesday at 4 PM ET.

General manager Andrew Berry has revealed that keeping all four quarterbacks – Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, and Sanders – remains a possibility.

Watson will begin the season on the physically unable to perform list.

When will Cleveland find its franchise quarterback?

If you’re a Browns fan, it’s scary to think that none of the four options on the roster will ever be that QB, yet all of them have the potential to delay the decades-long search through 2026 and beyond.

Cleveland is considered the most likely team to miss the playoffs at -1800 at FanDuel.

That number represents a 94.7 per cent implied chance.

Meanwhile, thanks in part to the fact that we can now build parlays mixing and matching teams to make and miss the playoffs, the Browns are by far the most popular bet to fall short of the postseason once again.

On the flip side, the Browns to make the playoffs is +880.

A $10 bet on Cleveland to reach the postseason wouldn’t pay anything because they won’t get there, but if a +10 bet at +880 odds did cash it would pay $88.

Meanwhile, the Browns are the most popular bet to finish fourth in the AFC North with a whopping 93 per cent of the bets in that market.

Unfazed by the public perception, it appears Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski believe they can win now, which is why they are going with Flacco in Week 1.

The scary part is that the better Flacco performs this season, the less likely it is that Cleveland will land one of the top picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.

So, in addition to limiting the opportunities Gabriel and Sanders get to audition for the future, the Browns could hurt their chances to land one of the top QB prospects next April.

It’s hard for me to envision a scenario in which Cleveland doesn’t finish fourth in the AFC North, regardless of which quarterback plays for them.

I feel the same way about the New Orleans Saints, which are also searching for a franchise QB with too many holes on both sides of the ball to compete for a playoff spot this season.

I’ll lock in a two-leg parlay with the Browns to finish with the worst record in the AFC North and the Saints to finish with the worst record in the NFC South at +150.

FanDuel Futures Day is this Tuesday August 26th.

If you think there’s a better bet I can make, hit me up @Domenic_Padula on X and let me know.

As for Browns fans, I really hope you find your franchise quarterback soon.

Fingers crossed for 2026.