Friday evening, Cleveland Browns fans woke up to some positive news.
It’s not every day that signing a 40-year-old quarterback counts as big news, but in this case, bringing back veteran Joe Flacco certainly does.
Going forward, Flacco looks like he could be the bridge for this team. But, a bridge for who? To be frank, we might not know the answer to that question for another year — ideally, we won’t.
But, the Browns now have a little more freedom in the 2025 NFL Draft. Fortunately, they’ll likely avoid making three specific mistakes.
Joe Flacco will allow the Browns not to get caught in a first-round trade-up trap
First and foremost, the Browns were not going to take a quarterback at no. 2 overall. However, if they were to see Shedeur Sanders go inside the top 10 or 15 picks, there’s a world where the Browns get antsy and feel pressured to trade back up into the first round for a player like Jaxson Dart.
That’d be a colossal mistake for many reasons, and we can get into those a little bit later. But, avoiding having to trade future draft capital to move up and select a quarterback who might not be the answer? That’s a costly mistake the Browns will likely have dodged.
Signing Joe Flacco also ensures the Browns can keep their second-round pick wide open
If we’re focused strictly on the second-round pick at no. 33 overall, this was definitely the spot many fans were hoping to see a player like Dart drafted. It would make some sense for Cleveland to take Dart in the second round, but any higher would be a huge blunder.
Still, at that first selection in the second round, there are going to be better overall prospects available. If Cleveland can keep their options open at 33 and find players like Luther Burden, Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson or even a lineman like Grey Zabel, they’d have to feel real good about that haul.
Taking quarterback off the board at 33 is a wise move. Going into this season with Flacco and Watson isn’t the worst thing imaginable, even though some fans would argue otherwise. For right now, getting those high-quality players at other key positions should be a priority over drafting a “maybe” at quarterback.
God forbid Cleveland even entertained the idea of Jalen Milroe at 33 if Dart was already gone, but that’s a topic for another day. What we do know is that the Browns have been interested in those Day 2 quarterbacks for a while now, and maybe, just maybe, we can cross them off the list.
Above all, the Joe Flacco signing outlines the Browns’ bigger plan
The third mistake, overall, that the Browns could have made if had it not been for Flacco is pretty simple and all-encompassing: selecting a quarterback at all in this year’s draft.
That’s right. The Browns do not need to draft a quarterback from this year’s class. That might sound crazy, but it makes perfect sense. The Browns don’t need to waste a draft pick on any of the quarterbacks from this class.
Instead, build upon the best talent available at other positions and go into 2026 knowing you’ll have a much better shot at a franchise quarterback. 2025 might be another tough season, but there is now light at the end of the tunnel — especially if Cleveland is able to pair Abdul Carter with Myles Garrett.