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The Cleveland Browns will reportedly name Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback for their Week 1 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday (August 18).
"Sources: Browns are naming Joe Flacco as their Week 1 starting quarterback vs. the Cincinnati Bengals," Schefter wrote on his X account.
Flacco hasn't appeared in a preseason game with rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel each starting the last two games, respectively. Sanders, 23, a fifth-round pick, threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 14 of 23 passing, while also recording 19 yards on four rushing attempts during the Browns' 30-10 win against the Carolina Panthers on August 8, but suffered an oblique strain that forced him out of Saturday's win against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Gabriel, 24, a third-round pick, threw for 143 yards and one interception on 13 of 18 passing in Saturday's win.
Flacco, 40, who spent the 2024 season with the Indianapolis Colts, returned to the Browns as a free agenty after having previously led the franchise to its last playoff appearance during a season that saw him win the 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award. The former Super Bowl champion threw for 1,761 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions during his lone season with the Colts in 2024, going 2-4 in six starts, splitting time with former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson.
Flacco spent the first 11 seasons of his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens, which included winning the Super Bowl XLVII MVP, before stints with the Denver Broncos (2019), New York Jets (2020, 2021-2022), Philadelphia Eagles (2021), Browns and Colts.