Ex-Eagles quarterback Kenny Pickett has surprising rank on Browns’ crowded depth chart

Ryan OLeary

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Ex-Eagles quarterback Kenny Pickett has surprising rank on Browns’ crowded depth chart image

For the Cleveland Browns, the 2025 offseason has been quantity over quality at the quarterback position. 

Among Cleveland’s flurry of moves has been a trade for former Philadelphia Eagles backup Kenny Pickett, a reunion with 40-year-old veteran Joe Flacco in free agency, and a pair of 2025 draft picks in Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel (third round) and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (fifth round).

Oh, and we haven’t even mentioned Deshaun Watson, the team’s presumptive starter who’s currently working his way back from a twice-torn Achilles tendon.

With Watson expected to open the 2025 season on the PUP list (physically unable to perform), and Cleveland’s two rookies likely at least a year away from being ready to start NFL games, Flacco has been causally discussed as the de facto starter in what is now a seriously crowded Browns quarterback room.

Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com recently dropped her take on the team’s current QB depth chart, and her presumed starter might surprise you. During a recent spot with 92.3 The Fan, Cabot listed Pickett — not Flacco — as Cleveland’s top dawg.

“Right now, it still would be Kenny Pickett,” she told hosts Ken Carman and Anthony Lima.  “There were two quarterbacks that they targeted … Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel. I would not put Joe (Flacco) in the lead at this moment."

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Despite a solid season in Philadelphia when called upon last year as the backup to Jalen Hurts, Pickett has sort of become the forgotten man in Cleveland. The Browns were always likely to select a quarterback in the draft (we just weren’t expecting two), and Flacco’s contract includes incentives that could pay him up to $13 million. 

This will be Pickett’s third NFL team, and he’s still playing out his rookie contract as a former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He projects as a mid-tier NFL backup option at this point, but he has shown some toughness and moxie that could make him a future fan favorite in Cleveland.

We know this for a fact: The Browns will be front and center come training camp, with the NFL world craving a look at how things play out with Sanders, Gabriel and rest of this reality show. Pickett potentially opening camp with the first team would just add to the drama.

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Ryan OLeary

Ryan O'Leary has spent his entire professional career in sports multimedia, working as journalist, editor, podcaster, and in live events as a content manager and show emcee. His career highlights include working as a podcast host and audio editor for USA TODAY Sports Media Group, where he led a series of NFL podcasts for the company’s top-performing NFL sites. A born and raised New Englander, Ryan’s career kicked-off in newspapers after graduating from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in journalism. He developed an affinity for small-town youth, high school and college sports, while also realizing his childhood dream of covering the Patriots in multiple AFC Championship Games. Ryan enjoys kicking it with family and friends, beating his dad and brother in chess, and arguing with anyone crazy enough to insist that Tom Brady isn’t the GOAT.