Despite having young blood on their 2025 rosters, both the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns have opted to err with veteran quarterbacks for the start of the season.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen confirmed that former New York Giant Daniel Jones had secured the starting role over 2023 sixth overall draft pick Anthony Richardson after their respective appearances in the two preseason games to date.

Jones switched the Big Apple for Indianapolis on a one-year deal worth $12m in what many viewed as a make-or-break opportunity for his career. Now, with the start of the 2025 season imminent, it looks like the former Duke passer has narrowly come out on top in the battle for the starting position — although Steichen has already hinted that Richardson could always re-enter the fold if his schematics improve.

The head coach addressed the press after practice on Tuesday afternoon, announcing his decision on who will lead the team in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins at Lucas Oil Stadium.

“Daniel Jones will be our starting quarterback this season,” he said. “I thought the competition in training camp was great between both of the guys. I thought they both competed really hard. It was good to see them cheering for each other and battling the way they did.

“You guys (the media) heard me talk about the consistency, and that’s really what I was looking for, the operation at the line of scrimmage, the checks, the protection, the ball placement, the completion percentage… All of that played a factor in it, and I think Daniel did a great job. I think AR has made strides in that area, but feel that he still needs to continue to develop in those areas.”

Jones will now look to kickstart his career after six inconsistent years with the Giants, where he started 69 games between 2019-24, completing 64.1% of his passes for 14,582 yards, 70 touchdowns, 47 interceptions and a passer rating of 84.3, along with 15 rushing touchdowns. The Giants’ record in those games was 24-44-1.

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Similar to the Colts, Cleveland’s preseason was dominated by a contest for the starting quarterback position, albeit with two additional contenders. Veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett competed against rookies Dillion Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, not only for the Week 1 starting spot but also for a place on the franchise’s depth chart.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski faced a tough situation throughout the summer, dividing training camp reps and preseason series equally, but now, with his decision to start 40-year-old Flacco, he can focus on beginning 2025 in the best possible manner.

Flacco was previously with the team in 2023, where, despite only starting five times at the end of the season, he guided them to the playoffs after a four-game winning streak. During that period, Flacco threw for 1,616 yards, 13 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Now, nearly two years later, he aims to show he is still capable of leading the Browns’ offence to the postseason, despite remaining rather conservative in his reaction, stating that ‘it’s just business as usual’ as the team seeks to recover from last season’s poor 3-14 record.

Flacco also mentioned that being surrounded by plenty of young talent has enabled him to perform at his best as he enters his 18th NFL season, saying that “I hope I’ve shown some people that, over the last couple of weeks, I have watched the film and, when we’ve been out there, I felt as good as I ever have.

“You know, you get tricked a little bit when you’re in a locker room with all these guys — you just kind of assume you’re in your 20s and keep telling yourself that. But I really do feel great, my arm feels just as good as ever, my legs feel really good right now…so I feel ready to go.”