It didn’t even take a full calendar month for the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback situation to go from bad to comical this year.
In early January, the Browns confirmed that Deshaun Watson underwent a second surgery to repair his re-ruptured Achilles tendon, effectively ending any hope for a 2025 return. General manager Andrew Berry quickly pivoted to Kenny Pickett, acquiring the 2022 first-round pick in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a 2025 fifth-rounder.
The Browns then, somewhat comically, continued to build their QB depth chart. They signed veteran Joe Flacco to a one-year deal in early April, then added two more quarterbacks — Dillion Gabriel in the third round, and Shedeur Sanders in the fifth — in the 2025 NFL Draft.
No team in football had a more intriguing training camp battle than the Browns in Berea this past summer. Sanders started the first preseason game against Carolina, Gabriel got the second start against Philadelphia, and Flacco got the third against the Los Angeles Rams. The odd man out was Pickett, who battled a hamstring injury throughout training camp and was ultimately traded to the Las Vegas Raiders for a fifth-round pick, this time in 2026.
The move was mocked at the time, as the Browns were initially expected to groom Pickett as their potential Week 1 starter. They needed space on the 53-man roster to carry both Sanders and Gabriel, though, sending Pickett to the trade block for the third time in his four-year NFL career.
Pickett just made his first start as a Las Vegas Raider this past Sunday... and let’s just say the Browns now look brilliant for flipping Pickett when they did.
The Browns are now fully vindicated for changing course on their Kenny Pickett experiment
Pickett’s official Raiders debut was certainly an all-timer against the Eagles in Week 15.
Philadelphia’s defense was about as dominant in that game as any team in NFL history. The Raiders gained just 75 total net yards on their 42 plays.
#Raiders got outgained 387-75 today. Their 1.79 yards per play were their fewest as far as records go back to 1963. Previous low was 2.0 vs Steelers in a 2006 win
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 14, 2025
Pickett’s final passing numbers were about what you would expect. He completed 15 of his 25 attempts for 64 yards. The Raiders actually lost the same amount of yards on Pickett sacks (35), as they gained on their 13 rushing attempts in the game.
It’s hard for Browns fans to laugh too hard at the Raiders’ expense, as their team just had an abysmal offensive performance of its own in a 31-3 loss to the Chicago Bears. But what went down in Philly was something else; the Raiders only gained seven first downs, scored zero points, and never even reached the Eagles 30 yard line.
Hey, it’s been a rough year for the 3-11 Browns. At least their fans get to follow a more intriguing QB prospect in Sanders over these remaining few weeks, and can take some solace in the fact that it can actually get worse.