The Cleveland Browns don't have much time.
That is, if they want to get the most out of the 2025 regular season, they're running out of minutes on the clock.
And this has nothing to do with winning football games.
The 1-3 Browns would be one of the most shocking turnarounds in NFL history if this roster somehow found a way to the playoffs. Take that off the table.
The Browns are playing for next year (narrator: as usual).
And so veteran columnist Jason Lloyd asks the question: Why is Joe Flacco still playing?
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Lloyd's new column headline says it all: "Browns should start Dillon Gabriel. It's not ideal, but how much worse can it be?"
Throughout the column, Lloyd pretty much reiterates that point, that the Browns aren't gaining anything by starting Flacco.
Cleveland has 13 games remaining in the 2025 season. Everyone expects the Browns to take a first-round QB in 2026.
In the meantime, the Browns can either maximize their information gathering on rookie QBs Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, or they can keep watching Flacco struggle to move around the pocket while throwing interceptions straight to the other team.
Flacco leads the league with eight turnovers through four games. Gabriel could do that, too.
Many had circled the Browns' Oct. 19 matchup with the poor Miami Dolphins defense as the best spot to bring a rookie in to start.
Lloyd makes the point, why wait?
There are 13 games to maybe figure out what Gabriel and Sanders can provide to the future in Cleveland. There's no reason for them to wait their turn much longer.
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