Ex-Steelers’ Kenny Pickett Struggling to Shine in Crowded Browns QB Battle: Report

It’s June. NFL fans should keep that in mind when they read the analysis of how any player looks in team workouts. Even preseason performances in August don’t matter much when the regular season begins. However, there are tea leaves that things aren’t going great for quarterback Kenny Pickett with the Cleveland Browns.

When The Athletic’s Zac Jackson evaluated Pickett’s performance during Browns minicamp last week, Jackson portrayed the former Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller as failing to standout at all.

“Flacco can still fling it when he’s asked to,” Jackson wrote. “And Pickett has been unremarkable.”

Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot has been a little more positive. She reported the Browns are interested in keeping Pickett, along with the team’s other three quarterbacks, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, all on the 53-man roster.

The indication with her report being Pickett is contending for a roster spot despite stiff quarterback competition. But Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio doubted whether that’s actually the case.

“It’s entirely possible that the Browns are putting out the notion that they plan to take all four quarterbacks to training camp in order to create some/any trade leverage,” Florio wrote. “If no one believes they’ll keep quarterbacks in the fold for camp (one of them surely won’t get the reps he needs to compete), no one will be willing to offer anything for the odd man out (we continue to think that, if there is one, it’s Pickett).”

Pickett returned to the AFC North this offseason through a trade. Browns acquired Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles.

Since then, though, Cleveland also signed Flacco. The team added two quarterbacks in the draft as well.

Kenny Pickett Getting Overlooked in Browns QB Competition?

While Jackson and Florio painted a bleak future for Pickett in Cleveland, the former Steelers quarterback has his supporters in the media too. That includes CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala, who defended Pickett while appearing on 93.2 The Fan in Cleveland on Tuesday.

“Give him the benefit of the doubt that he actually learns, that he knows what it means to be out in position to succeed, that he’s taken those lessons and that he’s created a good enough rapport with Kevin Stefanski that Kevin’s going to be able to help him be better than what you’ve seen,” said Kinkhabwala.

“Two years ago, Joe Flacco was written off. He was sitting on his couch and then look at what he did.”

Kinkhabwala’s point is very valid. In today’s instant gratification world, pundits can often judge a player too quickly. Then with a chance from another team, a player deemed a bust or disappointment can begin to flourish.

Geno Smith and Sam Darnold are two of the best recent examples at quarterback.

Kinkhabwala, though, appeared to be speaking more generally about the NFL and the way the media too quickly labels players as busts. Her analysis didn’t really include positive updates of Pickett’s performances at Cleveland’s offseason workouts.

Pickett a Trade Candidate for Browns?

Radio hosts don’t typically push back on the opinions of the guests on their radio station. But that’s essentially what transpired at 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland this week.

Hosts Nick Wilson and Jonathan Peterlin clarified that they admire Kinkhabwala’s work. But they strongly disagreed with her points about Pickett.

“What Aditi is espousing is what I’m hearing from so many national writers who know ball,” Wilson said on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re spinning cinderella stories instead of talking, guys if we get into the wheel of probability, there’s like a one percent chance that Kenny Pickett ever does anything meaningful in the NFL.

“He wasn’t bad, he was atrocious. He was unplayable.”

Peterlin reacted to those comments with an intriguing question.

“Then use the logic then, if we both feel this way, do you feel like we’re all just being used as patsies to try and drive up the price for Kenny Pickett?” Peterlin asked. “Because that makes a lot of sense to me.”

Again, that was essentially Florio’s argument. If the Browns don’t trade Pickett, they will have to roster juggle throughout the season with four quarterbacks.

“If the Browns don’t get an acceptable offer for Pickett before it’s time to cut the roster from 90 to 53, one potential short-term approach could be to cut Flacco, sign him to the practice squad, and bring him up to the active roster every week,” Florio wrote. “It’s the 54-man roster trick, where a vested veteran who doesn’t have to pass through waivers (until the trade deadline) plays along with the approach.”

Again, it’s June. All the hypotheticals exist around Pickett because we need something to talk about right now.

Having said that, these conversations probably aren’t happening if Pickett was performing well at Browns practices.