The Cleveland Browns will not be picking up Kenny Pickett’s fifth-year option, making this a prove-it year for the former first-round pick.
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The Browns acquired Pickett via trade in March, sending a 2025 fifth-round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The cost of the fifth-year option would have been $22.117 million for the 2026 season. Pickett will make only $2.623 million this year in the final year of his rookie contract — an affordable number with some uncertainty around his role.
Pickett was a first-round pick in 2022 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He spent two years as the starter in Pittsburgh, posting a 14-10 record. Pickett notched 4,474 yards, 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in a Steelers uniform.
He spent last season backing up Jalen Hurts and was called into action down the stretch. Pickett completed 25-of-42 passes while with the Eagles, collecting 291 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Kenny Pickett Determined to Win Starting Job in Cleveland
The Browns are gearing up for a heated quarterback competition. Pickett headlines a crowded depth chart that includes veteran Joe Flacco and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Deshaun Watson, still recovering from an Achilles injury and expected to miss most — if not all — of the upcoming season, is in the background as well.
How the pecking order shakes out remains to be seen, but Pickett is determined to seize the starting job.
“That’s the plan, man. I’m not going there to hang out,” Pickett said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I want to go play. I’m excited, been working hard for it, taking it a day at a time.”
As it stands, Pickett is the favorite to win the job, per DraftKings Sportsbook. Ahead of training camp, Pickett (+120) is the favorite to start Week 1, per DraftKings Sportsbook. Sanders is next at +225, followed by Flacco at +300. Gabriel, a surprise third-round pick by Cleveland, sits at +650.
Browns Explain Draft Strategy With Sanders, Gabriel
The quarterback battle in Cleveland is set to draw national attention with Sanders now in the mix. Once projected as a first-round pick, Sanders’ dramatic slide to the fifth round became one of the biggest stories of the draft. But the Browns saw too much upside to pass on him that late, seizing the opportunity to add the former Colorado star.
“We felt like it wasn’t necessarily the plan going into the weekend to select two quarterbacks, but as we talk about, we do believe in best player available, we do believe in positional value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said. “Love adding competition to every position room and adding him to compete with the guys that are already in there. We felt like that was the appropriate thing to do.”
Wide receiver was one spot Cleveland didn’t address during the draft. The Browns added Diontae Johnson on Monday, giving whoever wins the starting job a veteran set of hands. Jerry Jeudy, who is coming off a Pro Bowl season, will be the No. 1 WR for the Browns.
