Is Pitt's Kenny Pickett Frontrunner in Browns QB Battle?

The Cleveland Browns were considered among the more likely teams to spend an early-round NFL Draft pick on the quarterback position coming out of the free agency blitz.

However, as the draft drew closer, the odds of Cleveland selecting a quarterback in the first or second rounds quickly faded. Even so, the Browns ended up drafting two quarterbacks last month, snagging Oregon's Dillon Gabriel late in the third round, and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders with its next pick early in the fifth round.

Meanwhile, veteran Joe Flacco joined the roster after the Browns acquired former Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick and Pitt Panthers star Kenny Pickett.

Surely the Browns would seek a trade to narrow the field and lower the drama, right?

That was the common assumption until Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported that for now, the Browns aren't actively seeking a trade at the position, putting plans in place for a broadened quarterback audition.

Perhaps only after that battle has provided clarity will Cleveland consider moving one of the four passers.

“The Browns have no plans to trade any of their quarterbacks at this point. They’re intent on conducting this four-way quarterback competition and having the QBs bring out the best in each other," Cabot wrote. "By roster cutdown day on Aug. 27, they will be prepared to part with at least one of the quarterbacks. Which one will be determined by the competition, and how their depth chart order shakes out."

“It’s a tough call before we’ve even seen the first practice of organized team activities, but I know Kenny Pickett heads in as the frontrunner to win the starting job at the outset," Cabot wrote Sunday. "He’ll take the initial first-team reps in OTAs and probably the mandatory minicamp, and it seems like it’s his job to try to keep for now. But Joe Flacco brings 17 years experience and a 4–1 record with the Browns in 2023. He will definitely push and press Pickett hard for the job.”

Cabot detailed in her report that the Browns plan to run separate passing camps through minicamp and potentially continuing into training camp as well. According to the report, the planned quarterback competition explains the multiple tryout receivers signed by the Browns recently.

Could these plans change in the near future?

One would assume they could. However, it seems the former Pitt Panthers star quarterback will get a much more fair shake at winning a starting job this off-season than most anticipated when Pickett was shipped from Philadelphia to Cleveland back in March.