With everyone wondering about who will be the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, the rest of the team’s roster has quickly become young and highly rated for that young talent. As always in the NFL, quarterback, head coach, owner, and offensive play caller tend to be the most important and widely discussed topics.
Since Jimmy Haslam bought the Browns, the team has gone through its fair share of QBs and coaches. HC Todd Monken is next in line, while we await the winner of Deshaun Watson
versus Shedeur Sanders.
Last year, former first-round pick Kenny Pickett was one of many quarterbacks attempting to solve Cleveland’s longstanding issue. Acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, Pickett seemed to have an early lead on the starter’s job before an injury all but eliminated him from contention. Interestingly, Pickett’s college coach, Pat Narduzzi, said that the quarterback was desperate to leave the Eagles (as transcribed by Behind the Steel Curtain):
“The Eagles did not want to trade him,” Narduzzi said on 99.9 The Fan. “He begged to be traded because he wanted to compete, and he felt like he wasn’t going to have a chance to beat out Jalen Hurts.”
With the Browns, Pickett did have a chance for the starting job before his injury, then was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a fifth-round pick. With the Raiders, Pickett played in six games, including two starts, completing 62% of his passes for 188 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
This offseason, Pickett signed a one-year, $4 million contract to back up Bryce Young with the Carolina Panthers. Barring an injury, Pickett will once again not have a chance to start in 2026, which is what led him to “beg” for a trade in 2025.
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