Zac Jackson of The Athletic noted in June during the Cleveland Browns' mandatory minicamp that quarterback Kenny Pickett was "unremarkable" during practices open to media members.
Thus, outsiders understandably were surprised when a subsequent report indicated that some people within the Browns "want" Pickett to win the competition for the Week 1 starting job over veteran Joe Flacco, rookie Dillon Gabriel and first-year pro Shedeur Sanders.
During the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast," Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer expanded on how Pickett seemingly failed to impress during spring workouts.
"We did not see it in spring ball," Cabot said about Pickett. "You didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. If we are saying that we did, we’re kidding ourselves. We didn’t see him pop. He needs to pop in training camp."
The Pittsburgh Steelers made Pickett the 20th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, and he went 14-10 as a starter over his first two pro seasons. Across 25 total games with the Steelers, he tossed 13 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions.
Pittsburgh signed Russell Wilson in March 2024 shortly before the club traded Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. Pickett then spent the bulk of last season serving as a backup for Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts.
Per Scott Petrak of BrownsZone, Pickett acknowledged during the spring that "learning the new terminology (with the Browns) has really been the big thing for me." That's not a problem for Flacco, who won four of five regular-season starts to guide the 2023 Browns to the postseason while playing under head coach Kevin Stefanski. Flacco reportedly has the support of noteworthy veteran Cleveland players, such as starting left guard Joel Bitonio and star pass-rusher Myles Garrett.
"You are going to have to play fast and furious, and you’ve got to be able to run this offense and not be thinking about it," Cabot added. "And that’s what I wonder when he talks about, 'Oh, I’m just getting to know the terminology and you know, I’m honing my pocket presence and play-action,' all those kinds of things. Then you can’t be learning on the job."
As of Tuesday morning, FanDuel Sportsbook continued to list Flacco as a -102 betting favorite to start Cleveland's Week 1 game over Pickett (+200 odds), Gabriel (+500) and Sanders (+870). The Browns are expected to carry both rookies on the active roster in September, so it's fair to wonder if Pickett will be deemed surplus unless he leapfrogs Flacco on the depth chart by August's end.
