Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry said that the Kenny Pickett fifth-year option decision is not theirs to make. He made this comment after a reporter specifically asked him to explain how that works, and he answered incorrectly. During his post-draft press conference, he flubbed the answer and seemingly nobody noticed.
But perhaps that’s why we have had reports surface yesterday about their plans for the former Steelers quarterback. Days after the Berry botched it, Cleveland.com reports the Browns do not plan to pick up Kenny Pickett’s fifth-year option.
Of course they were never going to, but a general manager should absolutely know whether he has to or not. Granted, Berry fielded this question toward the end of his press conference following a long draft process. I’m sure at some point he knew that the Browns had to make a decision on Kenny Pickett. But then again, this is the Browns, who once called Cameron Jordan after drafting Jordan Cameron. Yes, that really happened, and years later, Jordan confirmed it. “I mean, I’m good, actually”, he claims he said when the Browns informed him they were about to draft him.
“So that would have been last year with [the Philadelphia Eagles], Andrew Berry said in incorrectly explaining that the Browns do not decide whether to pick up Kenny Pickett’s fifth-year option. “You have to make that decision after year three, since he’s already in year four. That’s not a decision that we make”.
Yes, Kenny Pickett is in Year 4—now, with the Cleveland Browns. This is precisely the time that teams decide to exercise fifth-year options or not. The Pittsburgh Steelers were in this exact situation last year when they traded for Justin Fields. He, too, was a former first-round pick who had played three seasons (and they declined his option).
Now, look, people make mistakes all the time, and it’s certainly not just the Browns not knowing something about Kenny Pickett, a player they just recently acquired via trade. Former Steelers DC Keith Butler once said during an interview that they had their hands full to prepare for a player who was on IR.
But the fact that Berry didn’t even know—or remember in that moment—that Pickett had his option coming up signals pretty clearly that the Browns weren’t going to pick it up. And they would have had no reason to pick it up, north of $22 million. It is the right decision—but you should know that you have to make the decision.
Perhaps Berry just had a brain fart, or perhaps he actually didn’t realize. The thing is, he explained the rule correctly, and correctly said that Pickett is in Year 4. But if you know you have to make the call, how do you forget? If we’re being fair, we should just chalk it up to a long day. But this is the Browns and we’re a Steelers site, so, you know, say whatever you want about it. Unless this goes viral, they’ll never know anyway.
