Latest On Panthers’ Kenny Pickett Acquisition, Andy Dalton Trade
Earlier this month, the Panthers signed quarterback and former first-round pick Kenny Pickett. That transaction seemed to point Andy Dalton out of Charlotte, and indeed, the club dealt the veteran passer to the Eagles shortly after the Pickett signing.
According to Panthers vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis (via ESPN’s David Newton), the motivation behind the QB room shakeup was simple: the team wanted Pickett to work as starter Bryce Young’s backup in 2026, and Dalton – who had served as Young’s backup over the past three seasons – still wants to compete for a QB2 opportunity. Philadelphia offers such an opportunity, and a trade was consummated.
The guaranteed money in Pickett’s Carolina contract ($4MM) is actually identical to what Dalton is due to earn in the last year of his current deal ($3.9MM base salary plus $100K workout bonus). Clearly, the Pickett-for-Dalton switch was not motivated by finances and was driven instead by other factors.
Getting younger is one such factor, but there could also be a belief in Pickett’s upside at play here. Although the Panthers finished the 2025 regular season with an 8-9 record, that was good enough to win the NFC South, and Carolina nearly toppled the Rams in the wildcard round of the playoffs. As such, if there were not a certain amount of faith in Pickett, it would have made sense for a team that has designs on another postseason run to keep the more established Dalton rather than replace him with a player who has not yet found much success at the professional level.
On the other hand, Dalton has posted a 1-6 record as a starter during his Carolina tenure, along with an 84.5 quarterback rating. Those underwhelming figures could have led Panthers brass to believe Pickett at least will be no worse than Dalton if he is pressed into action, and since Pickett – the No. 20 overall pick of the 2022 draft – is nearly 11 years younger than his 38-year-old predecessor, there still may be another level for him to unlock.
At present, there are no other signal-callers on the Panthers’ depth chart, while the Eagles are still rostering Tanner McKee. A sixth-round pick in 2023, McKee has started just two games in his NFL career, though he has shown enough promise to pop up in trade rumors concerning QB-needy clubs. For now, he and Dalton are poised to battle for the backup job behind Jalen Hurts, but ever-opportunistic GM Howie Roseman has a highly-experienced insurance policy in Dalton should he receive an acceptable offer for McKee.
Panthers To Sign QB Kenny Pickett
Kenny Pickett is once again on the move. The quarterback is joining the Panthers via a one-year contract, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The pact is worth up to $7.5MM, per Schefter. The deal also includes $4MM in guaranteed money.
Pickett was the 20th overall pick in the 2022 draft, but he is already joining his fifth team four years later. The former Pitt Panther began his career as the Steelers’ primary starter from 2022-23. Across 24 starts, Pickett mustered an underwhelming 13 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
After Pickett failed to establish himself as the Steelers’ solution under center, they brought in Russell Wilson as a replacement in the spring of 2024. The Steelers then traded Pickett and the 120th pick in that year’s draft to the Eagles for the 98th selection and a seventh-round choice in 2025. With Jalen Hurts entrenched as the Eagles’ starter, Pickett unsurprisingly saw little action during a Super Bowl-winning season for the club.
Pickett wound up on the move twice more before the start of the 2025 campaign. The Eagles traded Pickett to the Browns for fellow signal-caller Dorian Thompson-Robinson and a fifth-rounder last March. Expectations were that Pickett would compete for the Browns’ starting gig, but a training camp hamstring injury took a sledgehammer to his chances. Joe Flacco won the job, while rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders rounded out the depth chart behind him.
When Cleveland settled on its Flacco-Gabriel-Sanders depth chart last August, it dealt Pickett to Las Vegas for a fifth-rounder. Although Geno Smith struggled during a dreadful season for the Raiders, he still started 15 games. Pickett filled in for an injured Smith twice and finished the year 28 of 45 for 188 yards, a touchdown and two picks.
Coming off an NFC South-winning season in 2025, the Panthers are sticking with Bryce Young as their starting QB. But it appears Pickett will have a chance to steal the No. 2 role away from 38-year-old Andy Dalton. General manager Dan Morgan said last month that the Panthers “want to get a little younger and a little more athletic at that backup quarterback spot.” Pickett, 27, may be their answer.
Ben Levine contributed to this post.
Raiders To Start Kenny Pickett In Week 15
DECEMBER 12: Pickett will start on Sunday, Carroll announced (via Rapoport).
DECEMBER 10: Geno Smith‘s Raiders debut has not gone as expected, something that could be applied to the Las Vegas situation as a whole. The Smith-Pete Carroll floor-raising hopes are dashed, and the Super Bowl-winning HC is in danger of being a one-and-done — for a franchise that has failed to find stability this decade.
The Raiders lost Smith to a shoulder injury in Week 14, a loss to the Broncos, and the well-paid starter is not expected to return to face the Eagles in Week 15. Kenny Pickett is on track to start against one of his former teams, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes. This injury comes weeks after Smith suffered a quad contusion; the latter ailment did not force him to miss any starts.
Philadelphia traded Pickett after one season, marking the second of the former first-rounder’s three trade transactions to occur since March 2024. Philly sent Pickett to Cleveland this past March, leading to rumblings he would be the favorite to start for the Browns to open the season. A significant hamstring injury sidetracked any Pickett-QB1 hopes in Cleveland, and the Browns dealt him to the Raiders — who were looking for an Aidan O’Connell injury replacement — just before the season.
Although O’Connell is back off IR, the Raiders turned to Pickett to replace Smith on Sunday. Pickett threw a touchdown pass in garbage time, completing 8 of 11 passes for 97 yards. The Eagles installed the ex-Steeler draftee as their backup last season, acquiring him in a trade package headlined by a third-round pick, but decided Tanner McKee was ready to move up this offseason. Pickett facing a reeling Philly squad would certainly be interesting given both sides’ familiarity, though the Raiders’ current form makes them heavy underdogs regardless of QB.
Who the Raiders start in Week 15 is obviously less significant than their post-2025 plans, given their 2-11 record. Smith’s extension stood to buy the team some time in its quest for a true answer at QB. The team did not want Sam Darnold and joined the Giants in striking out on Matthew Stafford. One of the QB-needy teams to pass on Shedeur Sanders, the Raiders still profile as a team interested in a first-round addition here.
Smith’s two-year, $75MM extension runs through 2027 and carries $18.5MM in guaranteed salary for 2026. That would be the only dead money the Raiders would need to eat in the event of a release. Smith’s form this season certainly makes his Vegas future unstable, particularly if Carroll is out after one year.
Smith, 35, angled for a Seahawks extension and declined an offer similar in value to Darnold’s three-year, $100.5MM deal. He expected to be a Raider after Carroll was hired but has struggled for most of the season. Smith’s 14 interceptions lead the league, and only Cam Ward sits behind him (among 31 qualified passers) in QBR.
A return to the backup level may well be in the cards — via a Raiders demotion after a first-round investment or elsewhere — for 2026. For now, it will be interesting to see if Smith reclaims his job. Carroll has backed his former Seattle pupil this year, but concern about Smith’s form emerged as early as October. What is clear is the Raiders, who had Derek Carr in place as QB1 for nine seasons, will be looking hard at QBs for a fourth straight offseason.
Raiders Are “Mildly Concerned” About QB Geno Smith
OCTOBER 12: No substantial discussions have occurred regarding a Smith-for-Pickett quarterback change, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Smith has been a starter for the past four seasons and has not been benched for non-injury-related purposes since his one-off start for Eli Manning in 2017 triggered a Giants regime change.
Conversely, Pickett has been on the backup level since the Steelers did not reinsert the 2022 first-rounder into their lineup late in the 2023 season. Smith enters Week 6 sitting 29th in QBR, with injuries to Bowers and Miller providing a notable effect early in Carroll’s run.
OCTOBER 8: Unsurprisingly, the concerns about Raiders quarterback Geno Smith are starting to mount. Following a two-interception showing that dropped Las Vegas to 1-4, the Raiders are “mildly concerned” about their veteran QB, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The organization understands that their offseason acquisition has to improve his play quickly. However, there isn’t any panic that Smith is a “broken” quarterback, and Graziano doesn’t anticipate a benching at any point during Week 6. Further, there’s some understanding that Smith has had to rely on an underwhelming receivers corps while also dealing with key TE/OL injuries to the likes of Brock Bowers, Michael Mayer, and Kolton Miller.
Graziano notes that Smith’s two interceptions from this past weekend weren’t necessarily his fault, including one that followed a missed offsides call against the Colts. On the flip side, scouts told Graziano that Smith seems overly reliant on his arm talent as he (unsuccessfully) throws the ball into tight windows. There’s also a belief that the veteran has been a bit slow with releasing the football.
Smith is currently pacing the NFL with nine interceptions, and the team’s six passing touchdowns ranks towards the bottom of the NFL. The Raiders acquired the veteran from the Seahawks this past offseason and later handed him a two-year, $75MM extension that technically keeps him tied to the franchise through the 2027 season. If Smith is indeed done, the team would be left with a significant cap hit (although there is an easy out after the 2026 campaign). Because of that financial commitment (coupled with his relationship with head coach Pete Carroll), it seems like Smith will be afforded a relatively long leash.
If the Raiders do decide to make a move at quarterback, Kenny Pickett would be the natural pivot. The Raiders snagged the quarterback in a trade with the Browns at the end of the preseason, providing the franchise with a low-cost veteran backup. The former Steelers draft pick did win 14 games in his two seasons as a mostly full-time starter, but ESPN’s Dan Graziano echoes Fowler’s sentiment that Smith would have to completely implode for the Raiders to make a change.
While much of the talk about the Raiders’ offensive struggles has surrounded the players, some of the coaches are also starting to feel the heat. Graziano notes that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly is starting to draw criticism. Some league sources opined that Kelly’s scheme isn’t “creating enough advantages to overcome the Raiders’ personnel deficiencies,” which is also a clear indictment on the organization’s front office.
Raiders Acquire Kenny Pickett From Browns
The Raiders have landed on a new backup for Geno Smith. The team is acquiring Kenny Pickett from the Browns, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Cleveland will be receiving a 2026 fifth-round pick in return, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
This is a natural move for both organizations. The Raiders have been hunting for a new backup quarterback since Aidan O’Connell suffered a fracture wrist that will sideline him for six to eight weeks. Meanwhile, the Browns were looking to clear up their QB logjam, despite what GM Andrew Berry may have signaled yesterday.
The Raiders’ only other option behind Smith was rookie sixth-round pick Cam Miller, so it seemed like only a matter of time before Las Vegas landed a veteran signal caller. In comes Pickett, who has pivoted to the backup phase of his career. A former first-round pick, the Pittsburgh product failed to live up to his draft billing with the Steelers. He went 14-10 in his 24 starts with the organization but only tossed 13 touchdowns vs. 13 interceptions. When the Steelers revamped their QB depth chart last offseason, Pickett requested a trade and was promptly sent to Philly to be Jalen Hurts‘ backup.
Pickett ended up getting into five games for his new squad, completing 25 of his 42 pass attempts for 291 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He earned a win in his lone start for the Eagles, a blowout Week 17 victory over the Cowboys. After the season, he was dealt to Cleveland for a fifth-round pick and QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
The Browns depth chart quickly became crowded as they navigated another lost season from Deshaun Watson. While it was once believed that Pickett could be in the driver’s seat to be Cleveland’s new QB1, Joe Flacco ended up winning the QB battle. Still, the team had too much notable depth at the position as the roster deadline approached. With this trade, the Browns can now roll into the season with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders as the primary backups.
If you’re keeping count at home, this represents the third trade of Pickett’s four-year career. As NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero notes, this accomplishment has only been matched by one other player in NFL history: Sam Howell, who reached the milestone yesterday.
Andrew Berry Confirms Browns Will Keep Four QBs
Browns general manager Andrew Berry confirmed that all four of the team’s quarterbacks – veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders – would make the 53-man roster, per ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi.
Berry said earlier this summer that the team would consider keeping four quarterbacks and now seems poised to follow through. On Saturday, he called it “not much of a decision.”
“We have a room that we like all the guys in there,” said Berry. “We don’t really see that as a problem. We more see it as an opportunity.”
Cleveland’s quarterback situation has been the subject of intense scrutiny, perhaps more than any other in the league. The two veterans were long seen as the likeliest starters, with Flacco winning the job as Pickett dealt with a hamstring injury throughout training camp. Pickett is still expected to be ready to backup Flacco in Week 1, per Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. Gabriel and Sanders will provide depth, likely in that order, though at least one will be inactive on gamedays.
The focus on The Browns’ 2025 quarterback room comes in spite of signals that the team is planning to prioritize the position in next year’s draft. One such indicator was the acquisition of an extra 2026 first-round pick via the Travis Hunter trade with the Jaguars. Neither Flacco nor Pickett are long-term propositions under center, and the two rookies may not get a chance to establish themselves as future starters this year.
Deshaun Watson is unlikely to regain a starting role in Cleveland, but he’ll still cover more than a quarter of the team’s cap in 2026, per OverTheCap. That could keep the Browns from chasing a veteran in free agency and force them to bet on one of their second-year passers or draft one of the top college quarterback prospects next spring.
Kevin Stefanski: Browns’ Starting QB Decision Coming Soon
One of the NFL’s most closely watched training camp competitions will soon have a winner.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Sunday (via Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal) that a decision on the team’s starting quarterback would come “sooner rather than later.” He also offered “the next couple of days” as a rough timeline on two occasions.
[RELATED: Browns Not Planning To Cut One Of Top Four QBs]
The Browns’ quarterback competition has long appeared to be a two-man race between veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett. Pickett has been sidelined since late July with a hamstring injury, allowing Flacco to take virtually all of the first-team reps in practice. The 18-year veteran seems to have a commanding lead at this point.
Both of the team’s rookies – third-rounder Dillon Gabriel and fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders – had successful preseason debuts but don’t seem any closer to the starting gig. Both have missed time due to injury this preseason – a recurring theme for the Browns quarterback room – putting them even further behind in the race as they adjust to a new offense at a higher level of competition.
Gabriel recovered from his hamstring injury to start against the Eagles on Saturday, while Sanders performed well against the Panthers on August 8 before suffering an oblique injury earlier this week. The Browns are hopeful Sanders can return for their third preseason game.
Stefanski will need to name a backup quarterback as well. Pickett would be the obvious choice, but if his absence extends into the regular season, one of the rookies will get the QB2 role initially. Gabriel has taken 14 series with the first-team offense in recent weeks, per Easterling, trailing only Flacco (50 first-team series). That would appear to give the former Oregon standout a slight edge, but Sanders can make a push if he gets back on the field for the Browns’ last preseason game next Saturday.
Browns Unlikely To Make QB Roster Cuts
Throughout the offseason, Browns general manager Andrew Berry has publicly stated a willingness to carry four healthy quarterbacks on the regular season roster. As the cutdown deadline looms, it appears Cleveland will indeed take that route.
Rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are safe with respect to making the team’s 53-man roster, although it was recently learned Gabriel was the subject of trade interest immediately after he was drafted. The Oregon product has been ahead of Sanders through the offseason, but he – like Kenny Pickett – has missed time during camp due to a hamstring issue.
As a result of Pickett’s missed time and the inexperience of the Browns’ other options, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot writes Joe Flacco represents the top candidate to begin the season as QB1. It would certainly come as no surprise if the 40-year-old handled starting duties at least early in his second stint with the team, especially with Pickett on the mend. Sanders is dealing with an oblique strain, meanwhile, making it unlikely he suits up for Cleveland’s second preseason contest.
However snaps are handled over the coming weeks, Cabot notes each member of the Flacco-Pickett-Gabriel-Sanders quartet can be expected to survive roster cuts. Deshaun Watson remains in the organization, of course, but as he recovers from a second Achilles tear he is highly unlikely to play in 2025. That leaves recent signing Tyler Huntley in the fold for now, although his return to Cleveland came about in the wake of other injuries under center.
Huntley did not make it to Cleveland’s Week 1 roster during his first stint with the team, and that will no doubt be the case once again in 2025. Even if he is released shortly, however, the Browns’ QB room is set to remain crowded into the fall.
Browns Received Trade Offers For QB Dillon Gabriel; Shedeur Sanders Suffers Injury
Taking the rare step of drafting multiple quarterbacks in the same class, the Browns are in the latter stages of one of the more unusual competitions at the position in modern NFL history. As it stands, Joe Flacco is leading the way.
Even that is rather interesting, seeing as the former Super Bowl MVP is 40 and has not started a season opener as a non-injury fill-in (as he was with the 2022 Jets) since beginning the 2019 season as the Broncos’ starter. Flacco is on track to join Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Vinny Testaverde (Cowboys), Warren Moon (Seahawks), Johnny Unitas (Chargers) and Charlie Conerly (Giants) as QBs to open a season as a starting quarterback at 40 or older. Flacco’s age certainly points to his starter stint not lasting too long, shifting focus to the team’s two rookies.
Both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders‘ rookie contracts run through 2028. The Browns are likely to have both players on their depth chart, barring an IR stay for one of them, behind Flacco to open the season. Gabriel’s future as a backup has also become a talking point, because teams were certainly surprised the Browns traded up for Sanders two rounds after selecting Gabriel. To that point, SI.com’s Albert Breer confirms a report from The Athletic’s Michael Silver that stated the Browns received trade offers for Gabriel soon after trading up for Sanders.
Although post-pick trades can happen in the NFL — as the famous Eli Manning–Philip Rivers swap revealed 21 years ago — those sequences are traditionally confined to the NBA draft. The Browns have rebuffed QB trade inquiries at multiple stops this offseason, as reports in May and June indicated Cleveland was standing pat with its passer room. Those inquiries will likely resurface soon, with this month profiling as a trade window due to the roster crunch that comes each year as teams frantically go from 90 to 53 players.
The Gabriel interest came about from the six-year college QB impressing teams during pre-draft interviews, Breer adds; clubs saw the former Oregon, Central Florida and Oklahoma passer’s floor as that of a long-term backup. It would be interesting to learn what draft capital the Gabriel trade offers featured. Teams clearly saw more in Gabriel, with most draft observers viewing the undersized option as being overdrafted at No. 94. His pre-draft profile differs starkly from Sanders’. The latter entered the process with steady first-round buzz saw his stock crater thanks to a strange interview approach that alienated many teams.
Sanders and Gabriel have each missed time due to injury in training camp. Gabriel has returned to team drills after a hamstring issue sidelined him during Cleveland’s preseason opener, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes, but the Browns announced Sanders suffered an oblique injury Wednesday and missed the rest of a joint practice with the Eagles. It is an oblique strain for Sanders, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot notes. He is not expected to play in the Browns’ second preseason contest.
Sanders impressed when given a preseason start, thanks to the team resting Flacco and not having Gabriel or Kenny Pickett available, but his next chance to play will come in the Browns’ preseason finale next week. Pickett has not returned to 11-on-11 work, The Athletic’s Zac Jackson adds, noting Flacco remains in the driver’s seat to start in Week 1.
Pickett has thrown seven-on-seven reps since his injury, however. Gabriel’s return could point him to a start in Philly, per Jackson, who adds Sanders has generally outplayed his 5-foot-11 teammate during camp. The Browns, though, drafted Gabriel first. How these two coexist amid a situation that could remain awkward into the season will be interesting, as Flacco making it through 17 games as the starter will be unlikely.
Browns Sign QB Tyler Huntley
With a few minor injuries hampering their quarterback room, the Browns added some depth on Monday by reuniting with Tyler Huntley, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The move is now official.
Kenny Pickett has been nursing a hamstring injury for the last week, and Dillon Gabriel was limited with a similar issue on Monday, per Schefter. Shedeur Sanders has also been experiencing shoulder soreness, so veteran Joe Flacco entered the day as the team’s only fully healthy passer.
The Browns’ first preseason matchup is scheduled for Friday night in Carolina, and neither Pickett nor Gabriel are expected to play, per Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. The 40-year-old Flacco played all of six preseason snaps last year, and pushing Sanders to play most of the game with a sore shoulder seems like an unnecessary risk.
Enter Huntley, who spent the 2024 offseason and preseason with the Browns but did not make their 53-man roster. He briefly signed with the Ravens’ practice squad before finishing the year with five starts in Miami. His familiarity with the Browns’ offense will allow him to serve as a camp arm and absorb preseason snaps as the rest of the team’s quarterbacks get back to full health.
He is not expected to factor into the starting competition, which has swung back-and-forth between Flacco and Pickett this summer. Though, this does bring about an interesting development due to Cleveland’s crowded depth chart. Huntley has gone from making five starts a Tua Tagovailoa relief — after making a name for himself as a Lamar Jackson fill-in — to being what could amount to a camp body. It will be interesting to see if this reunion amounts to more than that, as Huntley is still just 27 and has made 14 career starts. The Browns had carried him through past waivers last year but ultimately cut bait shortly after. The Cardinals worked out Huntley in April but did not sign him.
Flacco is atop the Browns’ first unofficial depth chart as Pickett’s absence in camp has set him back in his quest to win the starting job, something he acknowledged this weekend.
“I’m trying to get back out there as fast as possible,” said Pickett (via Cabot). “I’ve never had a soft tissue injury like this, so really a first-time experience in my career.”
The former Steelers first-round pick is still ahead of his rookie teammates, with Gabriel listed as the third-stringer and Sanders behind him. That ranking reflects the snap distribution between the two rookies. Gabriel gets on the field before Sanders and takes more reps, but the latter has been more accurate this summer, according to The Athletic’s Zac Jackson. While neither is expected to start early in the season, Jackson suggested that Sanders’ rapid development could get him on the field later in the year.