Now that Joe Flacco has officially been named the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback, there is finally some clarity in the QB room, and fans can start to get behind a familiar face to lead the team into the 2025 season.
However, with Flacco starting, there are still some questions to be answered among the QB room, but one analyst proposed a solution that involves sending another quarterback to the Minnesota Vikings.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay recently wrote an article tossing out a trade idea for each team ahead of the 2025 season, and he proposed a deal where the Browns send Kenny Pickett to Minnesota for a sixth-round pick.
Browns Receive: 2026 sixth-round pick
Vikings Recevie: Kenny Pickett
“With Pickett dealing with injuries during training camp—and failing to distinguish himself in the Browns’ high-profile four-man QB positional battle when healthy—his time in Cleveland could be extremely limited. The Vikings might prefer a backup with some experience to work behind J.J. McCarthy this season. While Pickett has had his struggles since being drafted in the first round in 2022, he boasts a respectable 15-10 record as a starter and could provide Minnesota with a quality insurance option for an unproven young signal-caller,” Kay wrote.
The deal would make sense for both parties, as the Browns have a crowded QB room, and if Flacco flames out, there are two rookies in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders that the team is eager to evaluate behind him.
Minnesota could use a reliable veteran, given the fact that J.J. McCarthy missed all of last season with a meniscus injury and is a first-year starter.
Sam Howell and Max Brosmer are the QBs behind McCarthy on the depth chart, so there is plenty of room for Pickett.
The problem would be selling this to Browns fans, as the team happily traded a fifth-round pick for Pickett early in the offseason, so trading him away for a sixth in return before even seeing him suit up in Cleveland would not be ideal.
Many reports have suggested that Cleveland is leaning towards carrying four QBs on the active roster this season, but we’ll believe it when we see it.
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