On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns signed a Pro Bowl quarterback to their roster following a major decision they made at quarterback a few days ago. The Browns signed former first-round pick Jameis Winston as Deshaun Watson’s backup for the 2024 season.
The decision closed the door for Joe Flacco to return for the upcoming season.
The Cleveland Browns are closing the door on Joe Flacco
According to Jason Lloyd with The Athletic, the Browns chose not to sign Flacco this offseason because they were afraid the Team would rally behind Flacco over Watson:
That left the Browns pivoting toward Winston because it couldn’t be Flacco. It wasn’t worth the risk. Flacco was so electric in his brief time here that he won over factions of the locker room quicker than anyone thought possible. The harmony of those 53 is far more important than the backup quarterback.
Talk to any former player or anyone involved with the league and they will at least acknowledge the fragility of the quarterback depth chart. When the starter struggles, particularly when he doesn’t have a deep history of success, it’s easy for the locker room to split and for players to take sides.
It isn’t healthy and can quickly turn toxic. Nobody wants to talk about this stuff on the record, but more than one veteran acknowledged to me toward the end of last season that it would be difficult for the Browns to bring back Flacco given Watson’s presence.
The Cleveland Browns signed another QB
With Watson and Winston on the roster, the Browns added a third quarterback before OTAs this spring. Per Ari Meirov with the 33rd Team, the Browns signed former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley.
The #Browns are signing former #Ravens Pro Bowl QB Tyler 'Snoop' Huntley. pic.twitter.com/n76hcmc8ua
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 17, 2024
Huntley brings Pro Bowl expected to the Browns
Huntly earned a Pro Bowl appearance in 2022 for his outstanding season when he started in place of an injured Lamar Jackson.
Huntley has thrown for 1,957 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions in his four-year NFL career. Huntley will provide experienced depth at the QB3 position.
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8 Comments
Cleveland should have kept flacco based on how well he played for them.It is a slap.to the face for flacco.All 3 Quarterbacks that Cleveland is going to have this season is nowhere as good as Joe flacco is.And that is why a locker room Rally’s behind him because he gets the wins and the job done.is not that the QB job to help his team mates and himself to win games so he can get more money.Flacco earns every penny of his money.Well without Flacco at QB the browns will go.nowhere this season but down on team wins and certainly wont win their division or get a chance for a wild card spot.
Beyond dumb. Flacco is not worth the drama that his return could cause. He has also stated that he wants to start. It is only a matter of time until he did what he did in the playoff game. Nice having him and he played well. Just not realistic to bring him back….only fanboys think like you do.
That is the real reason the sent Baker down the road. No one likes Watson except the owner. He will never reach his potential. Flacco took them to the playoffs just like Baker. But neither of them were the choice.
You don’t have a clue. Flacco not coning back because of the reasons listed in the article you just read. Pay attention. He’s also stated that he wants to start. Any intelligent person knows it’s not an insult to flacco. It’s what is best for him and Cleveland. If you think retaining flacco as a back up in any way changes our odds of competing in 2024 you dont know football
Yeah, I thought Joe Flacco was going to be the guy, but the Browns are smart to let him go to assure team harmony. They can’t give up Watson. They spent way too much not to let him prove himself
Cleveland has a history of some bad decisions. Flacco made some good decisions on the field so he had to go so Cleveland could make another bad decision….
Woulda been nice to keep flaco..isn’t football about the team and winning???..getting to the playoffs again in 2024 would of been nice ..let’s see how many games our 200 million dollar guy plays before he’s out for the season..our motto,” well there’s always next year….
The Browns are Disgusting lately they still haven’t learned from their DeShaun Watson mistake they don’t know talent Thank you once again for another year of nothing