The Browns traded former Steelers QB Kenny Pickett yesterday to the Raiders for a fifth-round pick, getting the better of the deal, according to ESPN’s Ben Solak. Assessing the trade, the outlet gave the Browns an A grade for the move. The Raiders, on the other hand, earned a D for acquiring the former first-round pick.
“I think it’s a pretty big overpay for a QB2 who isn’t even an above-average QB2, but it’s tough to fault any team for caring about its quarterback depth chart so desperately”, Solak writes about the Raiders’ acquisition of Kenny Pickett. “But the Browns are the clear winner in this deal”.
Las Vegas found itself suddenly in need of a veteran backup after Aidan O’Connell fractured his wrist. The third-year quarterback will miss a decent chunk of the season, and Raiders HC Pete Carroll did not want a rookie as his backup to Geno Smith. So they worked the phones, and the Browns netted a fifth-round pick for Pickett.
Cleveland was already his third team, the Steelers having previously traded him to the Eagles. Philadelphia traded Pickett to the Browns only earlier this year, and they subsequently drafted two quarterbacks. They ended up with six in total, and still have four, including Deshaun Watson on the PUP List.
Ostensibly, the Browns hoped Kenny Pickett would compete for and perhaps even win the starting job. Injuries, to Pickett and others, left Joe Flacco as the last man standing, or the man standing longest. The former Steelers quarterback missed the entire preseason due to a hamstring injury, however, and never had much of a chance.
Selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Steelers, Kenny Pickett is largely considered a bust by everybody except Pitt fans and a couple Steelers fans who opt not to acknowledge that it wasn’t just the offense and coaching that resulted in his mediocrity.
To date, Pickett has yet to overcome said mediocrity, which is partially why he is on his fourth team since the spring of 2024, traded thrice. He has now been traded as many times as he accounted for touchdowns in a single game, one in Philadelphia. And that includes rushing touchdowns, Pickett having thrown two touchdown passes just once.
Solak argues that Kenny Pickett was likely to be “third (at best) on the Browns’ depth chart. While they gave every appearance of a willingness to keep four quarterbacks, the Raiders made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. The Steelers, too, once traded a third-string quarterback for a fifth-round pick. In 2019, the Jaguars, having suffered an injury to their starter in the opener, tossed Pittsburgh a fifth for Joshua Dobbs. Without him, Devlin Hodges ended up starting six games and meeting Lainey Wilson, his now fiancée.
