The Cleveland Browns just traded away a quarterback days before the 2025 season starts. According to numerous reports, Cleveland was in business with an AFC team who was in desperate need of a QB.
Here are the full details.
Breaking: Browns Shockingly Trade Away Quarterback Days Before The 2025 Season Starts
General manager Andrew Berry repeatedly stated that the team was ready to carry four quarterbacks on its 53-man roster. On Monday night, however, when the Las Vegas Raiders expressed interest in trading Kenny Pickett, the organization changed course:
According to NFL Media, the Browns are sending Pickett to the Raiders in exchange for a fifth-round pick.
Raiders backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell broke his wrist in the preseason finale vs. the Arizona Cardinals this past weekend and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, per ESPN. That moved general manager John Spytek and coach Pete Carroll to consider other options behind starter Geno Smith. Pickett, in a logjam with Joe Flacco and rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel in Cleveland, became an attractive option for Las Vegas.
This marks the second time this offseason that Pickett, the No. 20 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has been traded. Cleveland acquired Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a fifth-round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Pickett, who has starting experience from his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, served as the primary backup to Jalen Hurts as the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Now he appears to be in line for a similar role with the Raiders.
And with this move, the Browns are set to have Gabriel and Sanders as the backups to the 40-year-old Flacco when the regular season begins.
The Browns selected Gabriel in the third round before adding Sanders in the fifth. Both have had ups and downs throughout the preseason but Pickett’s departure seems to signal that they will both remain with the team past roster cutdown day Tuesday.
How the pecking order behind Flacco plays out remains to be seen.
Here is a look at Pickett’s career stats:
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacked | Fumbles | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Sck | SckY | Fum | Lost | ||
| 2022 | PIT | 13 | 12 | 7–5 | 245 | 389 | 63.0 | 2,404 | 6.2 | 57 | 7 | 9 | 76.7 | 55 | 237 | 4.3 | 23 | 3 | 27 | 182 | 4 | 1 |
| 2023 | PIT | 12 | 12 | 7–5 | 201 | 324 | 62.0 | 2,070 | 6.4 | 72 | 6 | 4 | 81.4 | 42 | 54 | 1.3 | 11 | 1 | 23 | 173 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | PHI | 5 | 1 | 1–0 | 25 | 42 | 59.5 | 291 | 6.9 | 49 | 2 | 1 | 86.5 | 9 | 15 | 1.7 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 33 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 30 | 25 | 15–10 | 471 | 755 | 62.4 | 4,765 | 6.3 | 72 | 15 | 14 | 79.3 | 106 | 306 | 2.9 | 23 | 5 | 54 | 388 | 7 | 1 | |
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