The Cleveland Browns entered the offseason with plenty of intrigue on who would be the starting quarterback.
The Browns had Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders competing for the starting job. Flacco ended up winning the job with Gabriel as the backup and Sanders as the third-stringer, while Pickett was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders.
However, Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com went on 92.3 The Fan and revealed that Cleveland’s original plan was for Pickett to be the starting quarterback.
“I really do believe, and I believe the team believed this as well, if they could get good, clean quarterback play, they could hang around this season,” Cabot said. “None of that happened. It went off the rails. It started with Kenny Pickett suffering a serious hamstring injury in training camp. That really just derailed all the plans. He was supposed to start the season as the starter.
“That is what was supposed to happen. Joe Flacco wasn’t supposed to be the starter of this football team; he was almost an afterthought when they signed him. They were designing the offense of what Kenny could do well.”
It’s a stunning twist in the latest saga that is the Browns’ starting quarterback. Had Pickett stayed healthy, he likely would still be starting for Cleveland, while Cabot believes Gabriel would have gotten a couple of starts at the end of the season.
But the injury to Pickett derailed all the Browns’ plans, and he eventually was traded so Flacco could start, as the team didn’t want Gabriel starting Week 1.
Pickett Was Frustrated By His Injury
Cleveland acquired Pickett early in the offseason from the Philadelphia Eagles, but after the Browns drafted two quarterbacks, the Browns quickly moved on from Pickett.
The Browns traded Pickett to the Raiders for a fifth-round pick, the exact cost they paid to acquire him. The trade happened after Pickett’s injury, which he was frustrated by.
“I try to give myself 24 hours to be as angry as I could be and then just turn the page. Every day doing as much as I can,” Pickett said of the injury on Aug. 14. “It truly is a 24/7 grind to try to get back 100%. So, I’m doing absolutely everything I can. Hopefully I can push it to get out there. I want to be smart, but at the same time I want to be out there competing. So, you’re kind of like walking that fine line.”
Pickett had a chance to be the Browns’ starter. But according to Cabot, the injury ended all hopes of the former first-round pick earning the starting job.
Browns Looking to be More Explosive on Offense
Cleveland failed to score a touchdown in Week 6 with a 23-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After another lackluster offensive game, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski admitted the team has to find ways to be more explosive.
“We have to find ways to be explosive on offense, and that can come via the run or the pass,” Stefanski said. “Explosive passes can happen in a variety of different ways. But it really comes down to our ability as an offense to put those guys in position, protect the quarterback. And then when those opportunities come, we got to let it rip. But I think that can come in a variety of ways.”
Stefanski will remain the offensive playcaller in Week 7 when Cleveland takes on the Miami Dolphins.
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