Several NFL insiders have suggested the Cleveland Browns plan to hold onto four quarterbacks heading into Week 1, though which four has now become an interesting question.
The Browns’ QB room has been Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in some order since offseason work began. However, injuries to Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders led the team to reunite with former Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowler Tyler “Snoop” Huntley in August, who picked up the practice-rep slack as the three injured signal-callers convalesced.
Huntley is the only player in the position group who has played in all three preseason games. He also was a preseason all-star for the Browns last August before just missing the 53-man roster cut. Huntley landed with the Miami Dolphins and made five starts there in 2024 (2-3).
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last week that he expects Cleveland to keep all four of its pre-Huntley quarterbacks, with Pickett as the only real question mark.
“I expect the Cleveland Browns to carry four quarterbacks on their final 53-man roster,” Schefter said via “Get Up” on 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.”
The difference now is that the Browns have an opening to cash in their Pickett ticket. The Las Vegas Raiders are in Year 1 of a new regime and just lost backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell to a wrist injury for up to half the season.
“Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell fractured his wrist in the preseason finale and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks,” Schefter reported via X on Sunday.
Aidan O’Connell’s Longterm Wrist Injury Creates Market for Kenny Pickett Trade
GettyQuarterback Aidan O’Connell of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Las Vegas traded a third-round pick for starter Geno Smith and then signed him to a two-year deal worth $75 million total this offseason.
The move was a referendum on O’Connell’s potential as a longterm starter in the NFL, as was the team’s decision to select Cam Miller out of North Dakota State in the sixth round of this year’s draft.
That said, O’Connell was a reasonable and inexpensive insurance policy behind Smith during Year 1 of a new management/coaching regime in the desert. Miller is not a viable backup as a rookie given the organization’s hopes for a leap forward in 2025 and the brutally tough division in which it plays — the AFC West, arguably the best division top-to-bottom in the entire league.
Thus, the market for a player like Pickett. The Browns traded Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Pickett earlier this offseason.
He then entered training camp with a slight edge to win the QB1 job over Flacco before promptly straining his hamstring on July 26. That injury has kept Pickett out of all three preseason contests.
However, he is on the verge of full health and represents a reliable veteran option to move into a backup role in a place like Las Vegas that needs that exact kind of player.
Browns Can Replace Kenny Pickett With Tyler Huntley, Trade Pickett to Raiders and Recoup 5th-Round Draft Pick
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Tyler Huntley.
The Browns are likely going to flip Flacco or Pickett at some point ahead of the trade deadline, assuming they don’t surprise literally the entire football world and remain competitive for a playoff spot well into the second half of the season.
Cleveland’s reasoning for keeping both Flacco and Pickett into the early portion of the campaign is so that one can replace the other if injury or exceedingly poor play requires such a change, but the team isn’t yet ready to put the starting burden on the shoulders of either Gabriel or Sanders.
However, with Huntley back in the mix and O’Connell’s recent injury, the Browns have options. Cleveland could trade Pickett to the Raiders and recoup the fifth-round pick it gave up to Philly. The Browns could then roster Huntley as the fourth QB and turn to him early in the season if Flacco falters or falls to injury.
Cleveland would then still be able to potentially flip Flacco or Huntley to another QB-needy team come late October or early November, turning to Gabriel and/or Sanders down the stretch before the 2026 draft, in which the Browns own two first-round picks and can explore next year’s class of rookie quarterbacks.
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