With four QBs active in Berea for training camp and nobody tabbed yet for Week 1 (let alone the future of the franchise), the Browns are again in a familiar place: quarterback purgatory. But with some organizational adroitness, they can set the fanbase up for something much needed to cheer about.

Releasing Joe Flacco during final cuts would initially seem like $3 million in dead money on the books. But with offset language certain to be present in his contract, he wouldn’t be double dipping if he found himself on a 53-man roster this year — whether in Cleveland or elsewhere.

The money he’d earn as a practice squad elevation would be $69,722 per week, which is the same amount he’d earn in base salary playing on his current contract (and one offsets the other so he isn’t able to earn both simultaneously). The incentives would disappear though, and that wouldn’t be great for Flacco.

His agent could advise him not to re-sign to the PS when initially released. And in that way he could receive the $3 million in guarantees without doing anything. But that makes sense only if he’s ready to retire after the season. If he wants to play, he should sign with the PS, get elevated and start for the team Week 1.

There wouldn’t be a never-ending cycle all year of PS elevations and re-signings after the Standard Elevation Addendum limits are reached. The intention would be that when an injury occurs, invariably, elsewhere on the team, Flacco fills that roster spot — provided that he’s playing well enough to merit it — and can be made whole with a replacement contract remunerating him for any incentives.

It’s a way to exploit the rules set forth in the collective bargaining agreement to maximize a roster that needs more help than creative thinking and outside-the-box problem solving.

—@PoisonPill4