Browns QB Kenny Pickett Receives Discouraging Update on Tuesday

The Cleveland Browns are expected to have a heated quarterback battle throughout training camp and the 2025 NFL preseason. With the odds as tight as they are, it might take all four weeks of exhibitions to figure out which player they want to roll with under center come Week 1. The fanbase is divided on who they want to be named QB1.

Many are hoping that college star turned fifth-round underdog Shedeur Sanders can take the chip on his shoulder and use it as motivation to become Cleveland's new franchise gunslinger. Others are rooting for Dillon Gabriel, their third-round pick out of Oregon, who became a Cinderella story in his own right when the Browns selected another quarter, a more famous one at that, 50 picks later.

Joe Flacco might be the most boring choice out of the four eligible candidates, but he has his own camp of proponents, including some of Cleveland's players. The most interesting storyline, though, would be Kenny Pickett winning the job. Pickett was the 20th-overall pick just three years ago and fell out of favor with his first team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite putting up decent, albeit unspectacular numbers in his first two seasons, he failed to earn their support as a franchise cornerstone and was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a third and two seventh-round picks. Some, including Pittsburgh legend Terry Bradshaw, believe that the Steelers never gave Pickett a fair shake, abandoning him despite never putting him in a position to succeed.

The Browns turning their franchise rivals' failed prospect into a legitimate starting quarterback would be a huge win for Cleveland on several fronts. Unfortunately, as good of a story as that would be, it doesn't seem very likely to play out that way.

There were reports that Pickett performed quite poorly compared to his peers at the Browns' OTAs and minicamp. Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot recently expanded on his early struggles on the Orange and Brown Talk Podcast:

"You didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. If we are saying that we did, we’re kidding ourselves. We didn’t see him pop. He needs to pop in training camp.We did not see it in spring ball."

Pickett may be starting a bit behind the ball coming into training camp but that doesn't mean he still can't win the starting nod come Week 1. However, he has a long way to go learning the Browns' offense according to Cabot:

"You are going to have to play fast and furious, and you’ve got to be able to run this offense and not be thinking about it. And that’s what I wonder when [Pickett] talks about, 'Oh, I’m just getting to know the terminology and you know, I’m honing my pocket presence and play-action,' all those kinds of things. Then you can’t be learning on the job."

Time will tell if Pickett can overcome his slow start and emerge at the top of this quarterback battle. So far, it looks like the Steelers may have given up on him for a reason.