With just weeks remaining until the NFL season begins, it’s still unclear which of the Cleveland Browns’ four quarterbacks will be the starter in Week 1.
The competition includes Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, and the common sentiment is that either Flacco or Pickett will eventually win the job.
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently highlighted which player each NFL team should put on the trade block.
He believes Flacco will win the job and that the two rookies need more time to prove themselves, leaving one player over.
“QB Kenny Pickett,” Knox wrote. “The Browns will have two first-round picks in 2026 and may chase a quarterback if neither Gabriel nor Sanders looks like a potential long-term option. This will all likely leave Pickett as the odd QB out. The Browns gave up a fifth-round pick and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson to acquire Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason. Pickett, who recently returned from a hamstring injury, probably isn’t the Browns’ future. However, Cleveland could try flipping him, as it did Joshua Dobbs just before the start of the 2023 season.”
It would be a bit unprecedented and short-sighted to trade Pickett before he even takes a regular-season snap for Cleveland, especially after it traded for him this offseason.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski has been open about how Pickett fits his offense, but trading Flacco after signing him to a one-year contract would be an odd choice as well.
If Pickett is traded, the Browns should seek a similar package in return, and it shouldn’t be unreasonable to fetch a fifth-round pick from a team that suffers a QB injury during the preseason.
Hopefully, this situation starts to make a little more sense soon so the Browns can get a bit more clarity on their long-term picture at QB.
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