Browns to host quarterback workout including Joe Flacco following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury

After losing starting quarterback Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season to a shoulder injury, the Cleveland Browns are turning to rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson to start this weekend against the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers. But they’re also looking at other quarterbacks. 

According to CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones, former Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, and New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco will work out for the Browns on Friday. Flacco was spotted on Thursday boarding a flight to Cleveland.

NFL Media reports that the Flacco workout is part of a workout that will include other quarterbacks and likely result in Cleveland signing at least one of them to the practice squad.  

After spending the first 11 years of his career in Baltimore and winning a Super Bowl along the way, Flacco spent one year in Denver and three in New York, alternately operating as the starter and backup for each team. He started four games in 2022, going 1-3 while completing just 57.6% of his passes at an average of a career-low 5.5 yards per attempt, with five touchdowns against three interceptions. The now-38-year-old quarterback has been out of the league throughout this season. 

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It is not yet known which other quarterbacks will be involved in this Cleveland workout, but the Browns do have P.J. Walker in addition to Thompson-Robinson, and they felt comfortable enough with Walker to start him for three games that Watson missed earlier in the season. It seems unlikely that whichever quarterback gets signed will usurp both players, but stranger things have certainly happened — especially in this wild season of backup quarterback play.