Joe Flacco Reportedly in 'Pole Position' To Be Browns QB1 Ahead of Shedeur, Pickett

Joe Flacco is reportedly in "pole position" to land the QB1 spot right now and take the first snap in spring practice, per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated on the Rich Eisen Show (2:10 mark).

"My sense is that Joe Flacco is going to take the first snap in the spring, which there's some significance to that," Breer began saying in part.

"I think [Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin] called it pole position last year when he was talking about his own quarterback situation. I think Joe Flacco has pole position here..."

Flacco is part of a five-QB room that includes four-year veteran Kenny Pickett, rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, who is likely to "miss significant time" in the 2025 season after suffering a re-rupture to his Achilles tendon.

Of course, Flacco leading the way in the spring doesn't necessarily mean he'll be QB1 in the fall, or perhaps even the summer when training camp begins. Breer spoke a bit more on that front while speaking on Pickett as well.

"...The guarantees in Joe Flacco's deal and Kenny Pickett's deal are almost identical to one another. So walking away from either guy would more or less have the same penalty. So even though Joe Flacco gets the first snap in the spring, that doesn't mean, like, Kenny Pickett won't get the first snap in the summer or that Joe Flacco is gonna make the team if Kenny Pickett wins the job."

Flacco famously guided Cleveland to the 2023 playoffs down the stretch with 13 touchdown passes and 1,616 yards, going 4-1 over five games. His performance was so noteworthy that Flacco, who signed with the team's practice squad in November 2023, won the Comeback Player of the Year award.

So now he's back in town and appears to be QB1 right now. There's still a long way to go until September, though, as a long offseason looms before Week 1.