Imagine stepping into a quarterback room stacked with experience, expectations, and NFL mileage. That’s the reality in Cleveland, where rookie Shedeur Sanders is learning under the same roof as Joe Flacco, a Super Bowl MVP and the NFL’s 2023 Comeback Player of the Year. Flacco re-signed with the Browns after a late-season surge last year, going 4–1 as a starter and helping push Cleveland into the playoffs.
His return adds more than depth—it reopens a familiar NFL debate. When a seasoned veteran shares a locker room with a rookie quarterback, what role should he play? Is he just a competitor? Or a mentor, too?
Flacco has answered that question—sort of. Speaking to Sports Illustrated during offseason workouts, he said plainly, “I’m not a mentor. I play football… but obviously there’s learning that goes on.” It was Joe Flacco at his most familiar—a guarded and focused veteran. But that quote didn’t land in a vacuum. It echoed into a long-running debate around the NFL: Should older quarterbacks help develop the very guys who might take their spot? Some, like Alex Smith with Patrick Mahomes, embraced the role. Others, like Aaron Rodgers and John Elway, kept it hands-off. As Flacco enters another chapter in his career, the question becomes sharper: where exactly does he stand?
Former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum, known for his years leading the Jets and Dolphins, brought heat on UnSportsmanlike Radio by doubling down on what that kind of response really means. “Joe’s job is to get himself ready — not his teammate,” he said. It wasn’t just a side comment. It opened up an ongoing debate in NFL circles. Then he pointed to NFL precedent: “Tom Brady, like a decade ago, came out and said, ‘My job isn’t to get the backup quarterback ready.’ That’s the quarterback coach’s job.” Tannenbaum made one thing clear: the burden isn’t on.
.@RealTannenbaum can’t imagine Joe Flacco wouldn’t help when asked, but he understands the point: Joe’s job is to get himself ready — not his teammate.@msmallmon | @ESPNCleveland https://t.co/iRopsbyANk pic.twitter.com/dgakvq3EcU
— UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio (@UnSportsESPN) June 2, 2025
Joe Flacco may not directly mentor, but Sanders can still make the most of it. As Tannenbaum further said, “Even if it’s not directly, if I’m Shedeur Sanders, I want to know when Joe Flacco goes out, I want to know what night he drinks, I want to know how he recovers, I want to know how he watches film,” he said. “I want to know what gifts he buys his offensive linemen.” He wrapped it up with a dose of realism: “I can’t imagine he’s not going to help when asked, but I understand the point is like my job is to get myself ready, not my teammate.” But that’s where this story really shifts—because even with all the buzz, there’s a real chance Shedeur Sanders never sees the field in 2024. Browns insider Zac Jackson laid it out bluntly on The Zach Gelb Show: “I don’t know that either one of these rookies will ever play, let alone this year.”
And that’s not about talent, it’s about numbers. The Browns currently have four quarterbacks on the roster, and they’re unlikely to keep them all. Sanders has shown promise during rookie camp and early OTAs, but he’s still sharing reps with Dillon Gabriel, a third-round pick whom the Browns, per Jackson, “fell in love with the intangibles”. That love, it turns out, was analytics-based. Jackson explained the front office had Gabriel charted in a positive light after his Senior Bowl performance and pre-draft visits, even though “I don’t think any other team was taking him in the top 100.”
Still, no matter where anyone stands on the mentorship debate, the real pressure is playing out on the field—and that’s where things get interesting.
Inside the Browns’ quarterback shuffle: what’s really at stake?
The Browns’ QB room isn’t just crowded—it’s layered. And Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland’s head coach, has to make tough calls that could shape the entire season. According to Jackson, the battle is split into two tiers: “It’s Flacco versus Pickett for the starting job. And then it’s the two rookies positioning themselves against one another… to be ready.” Let’s break that down. Joe Flacco, who joined the Browns in November 2023, went 4–1 as a starter down the stretch, throwing for 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Kenny Pickett, on the other hand, started 12 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023, posting 2,070 yards and 6 touchdowns before being benched. He was later traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in March 2024 and then moved again to Cleveland, where he’s now competing directly with Flacco. Sanders, for now, is an outsider looking in. Jackson was realistic: “He’s only been in the building like 16 days at this point, right? I like what I see from Shedeur… but I don’t know that either one of these rookies will ever play.” Meanwhile, Dillon Gabriel’s early practices haven’t impressed.
Jackson didn’t hold back: “Dillon Gabriel does not look like an NFL quarterback to me. Like, 0%.” Even though Cleveland’s front office valued Gabriel’s “intangibles,” Stefanski will have the final say. And while buzz suggests Pickett may be edging ahead for QB1, nothing’s been confirmed. At this point, the only thing clear is that Sanders and Gabriel are in a fight for survival, not stardom.
So, how does Shedeur Sanders respond to all this? He studies. He absorbs. And while Flacco might not be pulling him aside to give daily lessons, Sanders can still treat the veteran like a walking blueprint. As Tannenbaum emphasized, “You want to learn as much from him as possible.”
With a quarterback room this dense and unpredictable, Sanders may not get his shot in Week 1—or even this season. But if the Browns need a spark late in the year or face another injury wave, he’ll need to be ready. Until then, all he can do is stack practice days, learn the playbook cold, and maybe figure out what night Flacco goes out.
The post Babysitting Shedeur Sanders Isn’t Joe Flacco’s Job as Kevin Stefanski Makes QB1 Decision, Says Ex-NFL GM appeared first on EssentiallySports.