The next step in the preseason for the Cleveland Browns is training camp, which begins between July 18-22 based on player designation. A few weeks after that, at least one of the team's four active quarterbacks is going to be unemployed or playing elsewhere.
Precisely who that will be is a matter of debate. ESPN's Peter Schrager predicted earlier this week on "The Pat McAfee Show" that it would be one of the two veterans, Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett, and he leaned toward the latter.
However, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated recently noted on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" that Shedeur Sanders, who by all accounts remained QB4 following mandatory minicamp this month, is currently fighting more for a job than he is battling for the starting job.
As such, his recent citations for traveling 26 mph and 41 mph over the speed limit -- including clocking 101 mph in a 60 mph zone -- are potentially a bigger deal to the Browns front office than they might be if he was the No. 1 overall pick like Cam Ward in Tennessee.
That could open the door for Sanders to get cut or traded if he doesn't handle this scenario well in the aftermath and/or struggles mightily in training camp.
But it was Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network who appeared on "The Rich Eisen Show" on Friday and predicted that either Sanders or Dillon Gabriel will ultimately start for Cleveland in Week 1 and that Pickett, a former first-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2022 NFL draft, will be released or traded come late August.
"Talent-wise, I think both those guys have a huge advantage over Kenny Pickett," Jeremiah said. "Pickett has to be light years better than each of them to make the team. To me, I think Joe Flacco is just in case they don’t feel like they can be competent at the position, then you insert Joe. I think their Week 1 starter is going to be one of those two rookies."
The Browns traded for Pickett earlier this offseason, sending a fifth-round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the Philadelphia Eagles in return. Pickett is entering the final season of his four-year, $14 million rookie contract in 2025.
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