As of now, the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback for Week 1 is shaping up to be Kenny Pickett. That is after Deshaun Watson, who is entering the fourth season of a five-year, $230 million deal, had surgery in January to repair a re-ruptured Achilles injury.
Pickett has not lived up to his status as a first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2022 NFL draft. In 30 career appearances (25 starts) with the Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, he has completed 471 of 755 passes for 4,765 yards, 15 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 79.3 passer rating.
In a video posted to the "NFL on NBC" YouTube channel, Pro Football Talk analyst Mike Florio predicted that the Browns will sign one-time Pro Bowler Carson Wentz to fill in for Watson.
"I think Carson Wentz will be the one that they bring in to ultimately win the job at a time when they need cheap quarterbacks because they've got so much money and cap space still tied up in that albatross of a Deshaun Watson contract," Florio said. "The single worst transaction in NFL history, and that is not an exaggeration."
The last time Wentz started at least 10 games in a season was in 2021 with the Indianapolis Colts, where he proved to be a viable option, completing 322 of 516 passes for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 94.6 passer rating.
Since then, though, he has bounced between three different teams not getting much of a chance to prove himself with 13 appearances and nine starts, completing 201 of 319 passes for 2,036 yards, 13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and an 81.7 passer rating.
If Wentz can return to being the same player from just four years ago, he could be a bargain for the Browns to replace Watson with, as Spotrac places his market value at just $1.9 million annually.
