The Cleveland Browns face a crowded quarterback room heading into the 2025 season. The team has four signal-callers on the depth chart: Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, third-round pick Dillon Gabriel, and fifth-round selection Shedeur Sanders.
Someone’s got to go.
Browns radio host Nathan Zegura thinks the New Orleans Saints could be a landing spot for Pickett. The connection makes sense – Saints head coach Kellen Moore worked with Pickett on the Philadelphia Eagles last season.
New Orleans has its own quarterback issues. Rookie Tyler Shough appears to be their best option right now, with Jake Haener dealing with injury and Spencer Rattler struggling to find consistency.
“Probably at this point, Kenny Pickett. He’s a former first-round pick, he is young, and went 15-10 as a starter. It would be interesting, for example, if down in New Orleans — Kellen Moore was just with him in Philly — said that it’s not working out with Tyler Shough, maybe we need to bring him down here to be the starter and see what he has,” Zegura said.
Pickett compiled that 15-10 record as a starter during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Saints aren’t giving Shough much of a chance to be their long-term answer. Many expect New Orleans to target LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier or Texas’ Arch Manning instead.
Cleveland will likely use either Pickett or Flacco as trade assets. The Browns could go two directions – compete now or rebuild around their rookie quarterbacks.
If Pickett gets dealt, the depth chart reshuffles quickly.
Flacco would become the starter by default. Gabriel would slide into the backup role. Sanders, who has significant ground to make up in Cleveland’s quarterback room, would move up simply because of the numbers game.
The former Colorado star faces an uphill battle to climb out of the basement on the Browns’ depth chart. But if Pickett’s traded, Sanders gets one step closer to meaningful snaps.
