Kevin Stefanski admits the Cleveland Browns still need one thing from QB Joe Flacco after benching him for rookie Dillon Gabriel
Flacco is still going to be needed by the Browns after being benched.
Joe Flacco made it four weeks as the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback before the plug was pulled to go in a different direction. Heading into the season it was known that Flacco wasn’t going to have a long leash with two rookie quarterbacks behind him. Now, the Browns will be starting Dillon Gabriel in what will be his NFL debut on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
Cleveland has shown through the first few weeks that they have an elite defense like 2023 and the offense is clearly holding it back. The Browns are scoring just 14 points per game and that is ranked No. 31 in the NFL. If Cleveland wants to improve from last year’s 3-14 record, the offense is going to have to take a step.
Joe Flacco will be the backup to Dillon Gabriel
Joe Flacco’s career facts with the Browns
- 5-4 record in 9 starts over two seasons and two contracts.
- 2,431 passing yards with Cleveland and has a 15-14 touchdown to interception ratio in the 9 games played.
“This is not about one person,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Wednesday. “Joe is a captain of this football team. We’re going to need his leadership going forward, as always. … [Dillon’s] handled everything well since he’s been on campus here. So just gonna have to support the young man.”
The hope for the Browns was that Flacco could recreate some of the 2023 success he had in Cleveland when he jump-started their offense and helped them reach the playoffs. This season the opposite has happened and Flacco is completing just 58 percent of his passes with six interceptions to two touchdowns. Not all of the interceptions are on him and the offense has had struggles elsewhere, but it’s clear the Browns needed to go in another way.
Flacco will still have value with the Browns as the backup to Gabriel and could be just a play away from having to jump back into things. Rookie QB Shedeur Sanders is going to remain the No. 3 quarterback for Cleveland going forward. Flacco has spent a couple of decades in the league and his experience should be valuable to Gabriel as he begins his NFL career.
2025 was always going to be a soft reset season for the Browns. They made the playoffs two seasons ago and everything went wrong that could have happened last year. Cleveland has what looks to be an excellent rookie class already making an impact and now they hope that Gabriel can add to that.
Cleveland Browns News
Kevin Stefanski is officially making a big decision for the Cleveland Browns that could end up going either way for the team
The Browns are moving on from their starting quarterback after four games.
