NFL analyst forecasts which Browns quarterback will be cut and makes shocking prediction for Week 1 starting QB
At the Cleveland Browns, a number of quarterbacks have their sights set on the starting spot in September’s NFL season opener.
NFL expert Daniel Jeremiah is backing the Browns to start one of their rookie quarterbacks in Week 1 - and says Kenny Pickett will “have to be Superman” to avoid being cut from Cleveland’s roster.
Heading into the 2025 season, which kicks off in early September, the Browns currently have four available quarterbacks: Pickett and Joe Flacco, plus recent Draft picks Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
Cleveland also has a $230m QB in the shape of Deshaun Watson, but the three-time Pro Bowler is expected to miss most or all of next season, as he recovers from surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Rookies have “huge advantage” over Pickett
Speaking on Thursday, Jeremiah said Pickett will have to play out of his skin in preseason if he wants to prevent Flacco, Sanders and Gabriel from snapping up the QB berths in the Browns’ roster for the new campaign.
“I feel like Flacco probably has his spot reserved, and then it’s going to be three for two,” Jeremiah told the Rich Eisen Show.
He continued: “Talent-wise, both those guys [Sanders and Gabriel] have a huge advantage over Kenny Pickett.
“Kenny Pickett has to be light-years better than each of them to make the team. So if you’re going to ask me to predict how it’s going to go down, I would say you’re going to have those two rookies and Joe Flacco. Kenny Pickett’s going to have to be Superman to make the roster.”
While Jeremiah is tipping Flacco to be the Browns’ only available QB with previous NFL experience, he believes the 17-year veteran won’t be starting under center in Cleveland’s season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
💻 @MoveTheSticks
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) June 19, 2025
Now that we're post-minicamp, what is the temperature on the #DawgPound QB competition? Could one of the rookies be out there Week 1?#NFL pic.twitter.com/CUTcQh29Rf
“I don’t think you waste time”
“I think their Week 1 starter is going to be one of those two rookies,” said Jeremiah, a former NFL scout who now hosts NFL Network’s Move The Sticks podcast. “I really feel that way.
“I think you have to learn this year […]. Next year at this time, [the Browns] have to know what they have in those two rookies. They have to see them. That’s why I don’t think you waste time.
“It’s not, ‘OK, let’s let Joe Flacco let these guys get comfortable and then we can see who wins it between those two guys and we insert them in Week 8, Week 10.’
“Uh-uh. You have to evaluate these two kids that you just drafted, so that before the next Draft, you have some clarity of what you have on campus.”
Jeremiah’s comments contrast with those of ESPN insider Adam Schefter, who has said it would be an “upset” if Gabriel or Sanders - who were drafted in rounds three and five, respectively - started against the Bengals.
“There has been one quarterback drafted in the third round or later that’s wound up winning the starting quarterback job on the opening day, and that was [the Dallas Cowboys’] Dak Prescott in 2016,” Schefter told the ESPN show Unsportsmanlike Radio on Tuesday.
“Now, that doesn’t mean that Shedeur Sanders or Dillon Gabriel can’t come on, play well and work their way towards that starting job, even early in the season.
“But I think it would be an upset if Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett is not the Browns’ opening-day starting quarterback.”
When is the Browns’ first game of 2025?
Chasing a return to the NFL playoffs after finishing with a 3-14 record in 2024, the Browns are preparing for their sixth year under head coach Kevin Stefanski.
In Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season, Cleveland hosts the Bengals on Sunday, September 7, with kick-off at Huntington Bank Field scheduled for at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT.
Before welcoming the Bengals to Cleveland, the Browns begin their summer training camp on July 19.
Stefanski’s team then has three preseason games in August: against the Carolina Panthers on the 8th, against the Philadelphia Eagles on the 16th, and against the Los Angeles Rams on the 23rd.
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