The Cleveland Browns trading veteran quarterback Joe Flacco within the AFC North to the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday was a surprise, considering the Browns don’t have a veteran QB presence behind rookie Dillon Gabriel now.
The decision caught head coach Kevin Stefanski off guard, too.
“Well, first, I’ll tell you is that Joe’s trade took us by surprise. That was not something that we saw coming. They called us and it happened very fast and happened not too long ago. So still working through all roster type of things,” Stefanski said while addressing who the Browns’ QB2 would be in Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to video via the Browns’ Twitter account. “I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development, and I wanna make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players and, of course, our team. But with young players, I’m always thinking about last week making the change to Dillon, you have to think long and hard about that because these are young players that you’re so invested in their development.
“So, I’ll let the week play out and make a decision later on that.”
Following the trade of Flacco to the Bengals, which netted the Browns a fifth-round pick in 2026 but cost them a sixth-round pick in the same year, the Browns now have a void in their QB room. Of course, Cleveland benched Flacco entering the Week 5 matchup in London against the Minnesota Vikings for Gabriel. Though Gabriel played sound football, the Browns still came up short in a 21-17 loss and didn’t do enough offensively.
Having that security blanket in Flacco at QB to help both Gabriel and fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders seemed like a sound piece of business for the Browns. Until they had other ideas. Now, Flacco goes to the Bengals to try and help Cincinnati make the playoffs in light of the Joe Burrow injury, while the Browns have more uncertainty at QB.
It’s not as if Cleveland landed some big-time draft value with the trade. And it doesn’t sound like Flacco wanted the move. Yet the Browns under GM Andrew Berry pulled the trigger and now has their QB room facing a bit of uncertainty entering a pivotal week at Acrisure Stadium.
“Obviously I’ll let AB [Andrew Berry] make those decisions. I trust AB; we talk about every decision we make,” Stefanski added of the trade. “They wanted Joe, they made the phone call. Obviously, it gives Joe an opportunity to go play again. But you know, I trust in our decisions.”
Logically, the next man up at QB2 would be Sanders, the fifth-round pick out of Colorado. But the fact that Stefanski was so hesitant to commit to anything Wednesday could leave the door open for Bailey Zappe, who is on their practice squad though he could be added to the 53-man roster this week.
If Sanders isn’t QB2 against the Steelers, it could create a firestorm among the national media as to why the big-name rookie isn’t getting much of a chance in Cleveland, even if he was clearly outplayed in training camp and the preseason by Gabriel and shouldn’t be handed anything due to his last name.
It might make the most sense for the Browns to promote Zappe to their 53-man roster and insert him as QB2 for at least this week since the change was so sudden. Eventually, Sanders should be QB2 as Stefanski did praise his work behind the scenes Wednesday. But entering a key matchup against a divisional opponent Sunday, the Browns have more questions than answers at QB, and Stefanski seems a bit uncomfortable with that at the moment.
