Kenny Pickett, Browns
Getty
Quarterback Kenny Pickett of the Cleveland Browns.
The Cleveland Browns are rolling with Joe Flacco as QB1 to start the season, which could mean a few different things for Kenny Pickett.
Pickett hurt his hamstring during training camp in late July, which set him back and cleared the path for Flacco to take the reins of the starting job with relative ease. That said, the Browns have a brutal six-game stretch to open the season and it’s unlikely to behoove the team or either of its rookie quarterbacks — Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel — to insert them into the starting lineup at any point before those contests are completed.
Thus, a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that indicates Cleveland is likely to carry four quarterbacks into the season.
“I expect the Cleveland Browns to carry four quarterbacks on their final 53-man roster,” Schefter said on “Get Up” Monday, August 18. “They’re gonna keep both rookies, they’re gonna keep Flacco, so we’re really talking about Kenny Pickett, and I expect he makes the roster because quarterbacks are currency.”
If Flacco gets hurt or bombs early, Pickett can fill in for him until the schedule eases off. Assuming Cleveland isn’t playoff-level competitive by mid-year, the team can transition to a rookie, play for 2026 and look to move the fourth-year QB ahead of the trade deadline in early November.
There are a handful of teams that could make sense as a destination for Pickett come this fall, even assuming none of them deal with health issues to their respective QB1s before the deadline arrives.
As far as his trade value goes, Pickett has a winning NFL record (15-10). The Browns sent the Philadelphia Eagles a fifth-round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson in exchange for Pickett, so a fifth-round selection seems a fair place to begin negotiations.
Kenny Pickett Trade Destination No. 1: The Los Angeles Rams
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
GettyQuarterback Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams.
The Los Angeles Rams won the NFC West Division last season and gave the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles the only real run for their money during the playoffs.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford was a huge reason for that, but his performance was nevertheless spotty throughout last regular season. He is 37 years old and just had an epidural to deal with chronic back pain. There is no reason to believe that Stafford’s consistency is going to improve given his age and injury history.
Los Angeles allowed Stafford to flirt with other teams over the offseason before ultimately reworking his deal, which extends through the 2026 campaign. But the Rams have no longterm plan after that, and Jimmy Garoppolo, Stetson Bennet IV and Dresser Winn are the other three signal-callers on the roster.
Sending Cleveland a fifth-round pick for Pickett makes reasonable sense for a team looking to compete at the highest level for the next two seasons, and which doesn’t have a viable starter for 2027 and beyond currently on the roster.
Kenny Pickett Trade Destination No. 2: The Minnesota Vikings
J.J. McCarthy
GettyMinnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Perhaps no team in the league has less on-field information about its quarterback room than the Minnesota Vikings.
J.J. McCarthy, the No. 10 pick in the 2024 draft and likely Week 1 starter, missed the entirety of his rookie campaign with an injury.
Minnesota dealt a fifth-round pick swap to the Seattle Seahawks for Sam Howell over draft weekend. Howell entered training camp as the backup QB but has mostly struggled against the Vikings’ first-team defense and laid an absolute egg over the weekend in the team’s preseason game against the New England Patriots.
Howell has played in 20 games as a pro, including 18 starts (5-13) and has thrown more career interceptions (23) than touchdowns (22). Minnesota’s QB3 is Brett Rypien, who has appeared in just 10 games, including four starts (2-2) and has a TD-INT ratio of 4-to-9. Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer out of Minnesota is fourth-string and has had easily the best preseason thus far through two games.
The Vikings have a potential Super Bowl-caliber roster outside of the QB position and nothing but questions under center. A fifth-round pick is a lot to give up for a guy you’re not certain will be on your team in a year, but sometimes circumstances merit an overpay for a one-time play if it could prove the difference in your campaign.
I’m not saying Pickett is gonna win the Vikings the Super Bowl, but if he bridges an injury gap or saves a game in which McCarthy melts down, that could matter a great deal. One more win in Week 18 last season and Minnesota gets the No. 1 seed in the NFC, a bye through Super Wildcard Weekend and potentially avoids the relentless Rams pass rush that ended the Vikings’ postseason.
Kenny Pickett Trade Destination No. 3: The Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott
GettyDallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
The Dallas Cowboys make sense as a home for Pickett for two reasons: the unreliability of Dak Prescott’s health over the last half-decade and the almost complete unknown that backup signal-caller Joe Milton III represents.
Prescott missed more than half of the year in 2024 (nine games). In fact, he’s played just one full season since 2020 and has missed 27 total contests out of 84 regular-season games possible during that five-year span. This upcoming campaign will be Prescott’s 10th in the NFL, and he will play it at 32 years of age — all of which equates to some serious mileage on the highest-paid player in the league.
Meanwhile, Dallas dealt a fifth-rounder to New England for Milton and a seventh-rounder back this spring. And while Milton impressed in the sole start/appearance of his career in a meaningless Week 18 contest against the Buffalo Bills, he remains almost entirely unproven.
Milton completed 22-of-29 passes in that contest for 241 yards and a TD. He also gained 16 yards with his legs and scored once on the ground. In strong juxtaposition to that showing was the 9-of-18 performance for 122 yards and an interception he produced against the Baltimore Ravens‘ in Dallas’s second preseason contest.
Milton has completed just 55% of his passes this preseason with more INTs (2) than TDs (1). Behind him on the depth chart is QB3 Will Grier.
It’s unclear whether the Cowboys have a legitimate backup quarterback at this point. What is entirely unambiguous is the fact that the team needs to have a bounce-back campaign in 2025 after paying Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb market-setting deals.
Pickett can offer Jerry Jones a bit of a hedge under center, the value of which every billionaire businessman ought to understand.