They keep tossing dirt on Kenny Pickett’s grave. He keeps showing up very much alive and well and showing he has what it takes to be an NFL quarterback.
The latest salvo in Pickett’s quest to return to being a starter was the report this week from Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot that Pickett had become the frontrunner to start for the Cleveland Browns in what could become the NFL’s most watched position battle this offseason.
Cabot said Pickett is “for all intents and purposes, in the lead” to start over veteran Joe Flacco and rookie draft picks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show on May 29.
Pickett was acquired by the Browns in a trade from the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on March 10 after spending one season as the backup to Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts.
“If Cleveland is searching for an experienced Week 1 option, Pickett and Flacco should have an advantage over the other candidates,” Bleacher Report’s Zach Bachar wrote. “The Browns selected Gabriel and Sanders with third and fifth-round picks in the 2025 NFL draft, respectively.”
From First Round to Super Bowl Champion Backup
Pickett’s career has been a rollercoaster over the last 18 months — a stretch that saw him traded twice. First, from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Eagles in March 2024 after the Steelers spent a first round pick on him in 2022 and he was their starter for 2 seasons.
Days after the Browns brought in Flacco to compete with Pickett for the starting job, Pickett sent a clear message he’s not backing down from anyone.
“That’s the plan, man (to start),” Pickett told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Jerry DiPaola on April 12. “I’m not going there to hang out. I want to go play. I’m excited, been working hard for it, taking it a day at a time … Total respect for Joe, what he’s done and I’m excited to get to work with him, too.”
Pickett Already Being Counted Out in Cleveland
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski put Pickett fourth out of 5 quarterbacks in the race to become Cleveland’s starter in 2025. That’s only ahead of Deshaun Watson, who is coming off a torn Achilles tendon and may have played his last game for the Browns.
Watson is still due $92 million in guaranteed money over the next 2 seasons as part of the 5-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract extension he signed in March 2022.
“Considering Flacco’s experience — both as a starter and with the Browns organization — as well as two draft picks waiting in the wings, Pickett definitely feels like the odd man out since Cleveland is unlikely to keep four quarterbacks,” Sobleski wrote on May 12.
“The #Browns can hype up Kenny Pickett all they want,” X user and Browns fan @tha_buffalo wrote on May 30. “They can say ‘he’s a 1st round talent’ and ’15-10 as a starter’ But we all know there’s no way he’s beating out Joe Flacco for the job.”
ESPN Cleveland’s Aaron Goldhammer saw the QB battle much different than Cabot, putting him fourth behind Flacco, Sanders at Gabriel.
“Consensus worst player at OTAs … Kenny Pickett,” Goldhammer said on May 29.
