The Cleveland Browns have reportedly agreed to a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. The Browns send quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Raiders in exchange for a fifth-round selection in the 2026 draft.
Sources to The Insiders: The #Browns are trading Kenny Pickett to the #Raiders for a fifth-round pick in 2026. Pickett gets dealt for the second time in just under six months and Vegas gets an experienced backup to Geno Smith with Aidan O’Connell sidelined. pic.twitter.com/S2bsxwu49a
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 26, 2025
The Raiders just lost Aidan O'Connell to a broken wrist in the team's final preseason game. He's estimated to be out six to eight weeks to recover. That left rookie Cam Miller as the lone backup to Geno Smith. As a result, the Raiders wanted a more experienced signal caller.
Meanwhile, the Browns had been carrying four quarterbacks including Pickett and Joe Flacco along with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. This move brings that room down to three options. It also recoups the pick the Browns gave up to acquire Pickett in the first place. Earlier this offseason, the Browns agreed to trade a fifth-round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for Pickett.
The Browns added Pickett in the hopes that he could compete for the starting job. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury early in training camp wiped out his chances to compete for the job. Even though the Browns genuinely liked Pickett and would have liked to see what he might've been capable of achieving, the injury made this season largely unrealistic. That is if they were able to get a trade offer big enough to move him.
Presumably, this means that third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel becomes the team's backup quarterback behind Joe Flacco.
There continues to be a belief that the Browns will be in the market for a quarterback in next year's draft, another reason it made sense to trade Pickett. However, as Pickett only has one year remaining on his contract, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if the Browns were to consider Pickett again in free agency. The Browns liked Pickett, but the timing simply didn't work out for this season.
Now the Browns have a clear quarterback depth chart, they recoup a draft pick for next year and they get back another roster spot to use on another player. The Browns are placing a good amount of faith in Gabriel if Flacco were to suffer an injury, which comes with an element of risk. However, the opportunity and value they gain with the move was clearly too good to pass up for general manager Andrew Berry.
The Browns have until Tuesday at 4pm to get their roster down to 53 players.