Browns Coach Sends Clear Message on $14 Million Former Eagles QB

The Philadelphia Eagles got what they needed out of Kenny Pickett in his one season with the franchise in 2024 with a backup quarterback good enough that it let them sleep at night.

In return, the Eagles gave Pickett a Super Bowl ring and the thing the former first round pick wanted even more than that probably — a chance to become a starter again in the NFL when they traded him to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and

a 2025 fifth round pick (No. 165 overall).

Confirmation came at the annual NFL meetings on March 31 as Browns owner Jimmy Haslam made news by admitting the team’s folly in signing quarterback Deshaun Watson to a fully guaranteed, 5-year, $230 million contract extension in March 2022.

Watson will sit out 2025 after tearing then re-tearing his Achilles tendon in 2024. When he has played, he’s been one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks and is due $92 million over the next 2 seasons. Not to mention the Browns sent their first round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024 to the Houston Texans for Watson in a trade.

“The Browns’ quarterback room currently consists of Watson and Kenny Pickett, whom the team traded for in mid-March,” ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi wrote. “Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Pickett will get an opportunity to compete to start in 2025. Despite the admission that the Watson trade was unsuccessful, Haslam said the team is not tied to taking a quarterback with the second overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.”

Pickett Traded For Second Consecutive Year

Pickett was the ACC Player of the Year and an All-American at the University of Pittsburgh in 2021 before the Steelers selected him in the first round (No. 20 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft.

Pickett went 14-10 as the Steelers’ starter over 2 seasons before he was traded to the Eagles from the Steelers in March 2024 along with a 2024 fourth round pick in exchange for a pair of 2025 seventh round picks and a 2024 third round pick. Pickett started and won a game for the Eagles in Week 17 while Hurts was in concussion protocol.

Pickett will be in the final season of his rookie contract in 2025 and due to make approximately $2.6 million, which will bring his career earnings to $14 million.

“A chance to compete to be a starter,” Pickett told CBS Sports when asked what he expected in Cleveland following the trade. ” … I mean, all you want is an opportunity. You know, it doesn’t matter who else is in the room. All you can ask for is an opportunity. Then you got to go handle the rest.”

Eagles Turn To Thompson-Robinson, McKee as Backup QBs

The Eagles go into their Super Bowl title defense in 2025 with a pair of quarterbacks vying for the No. 2 role behind hurts with Thompson-Robinson and third-year quarterback Tanner McKee.

McKee also went 1-0 as a starter for the Eagles in 2024 while filling in for Hurts.

“Hurts and Thompson-Robinson have similar skill sets, so the move makes sense from Philadelphia’s perspective,” Bleacher Report’s Mo Moton wrote. “McKee impressed in his lone career start, throwing for 323 yards and four touchdowns against the New York Giants in Week 18 last season. The Eagles have a star quarterback, a backup who can mimic some of their starter’s abilities and an intriguing developmental passer.”