Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) fires off an incomplete pass through a crowd of Cleveland Browns players at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
As the NFL geared up for free agency to open with the start of the early negotiation period Monday, the Cleveland Browns made a non-free agent splash with a rare quarterback-for-quarterback trade. The Browns swapped Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-round pick with the Philadelphia Eagles for Kenny Pickett, the former Pittsburgh Steelers’ starter and 2022 first-round selection.
Pickett hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire as an NFL quarterback, but he does give Cleveland a quarterback with some experience, a valuable commodity for a team that doesn’t currently have a great option at the position. That doesn’t mean he will be the team’s starter when the calendar flips to Week 1 this fall.
Multiple Browns insiders believe that Cleveland will acquire veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins from the Atlanta Falcons.
“It feels like the Browns will wait on Kirk Cousins as their likely 2025 opening day starter and draft a quarterback in April,” Zac Jackson, The Athletic‘s Browns beat writer, wrote after the deal. “Once the trade processes, Pickett will become the only healthy quarterback the Browns have under contract.”
Jackson added to the speculation during a Tuesday morning appearance on 92.3 The Fan’s The Ken Carman Show With Anthony Lima in Cleveland.
“[Pickett]’s a backup. Now, history will say that he’s going to play, and play a lot, but he was not acquired to become the No. 1 quarterback. So probably by the weekend, they’ll have Kirk Cousins,” Jackson said. “March 16 is when the Falcons owe him $10 million and everyone expects they won’t pay him that. So, if they do, we’ll see what next, but probably Kirk Cousins always has been the No. 1 plan. That’s kind of been out there since December.”
Even before a deal has been reported, Jackson does not sound optimistic about the move.
“We’ve all kind of known that’s probably going to be a disaster since December, but that’s probably where it’s going to go.”
As Jackson goes on to say, it is hard to be excited by a solution like Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million deal with Atlanta, only for the team to quickly spend a first-round pick on Michael Penix Jr. and ultimately bench the veteran.
There is some hope that, a full year removed from the torn Achilles that ultimately ended his 2023 season and time with the Minnesota Vikings, Cousins will be 100% healthy and closer to the quarterback he once was in ’25. Even so, it feels like a stopgap option for a franchise that is also believed to be in the mix to take a quarterback like Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders with the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft.
