Kenny Pickett Favored Over Shedeur Sanders to Be Named Browns Starting Quarterback

Iain MacMillan | Apr 30, 2025

Kenny Pickett is the betting favorite to take the first snap for the Browns this season. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The NFL Draft is in the books, and betting odds are set for the 2025 NFL season. Remember, odds don't just tell us who's going to win the Super Bowl and which players are going to win the awards; they can tell us even more about the upcoming campaign.

One of the betting markets that DraftKings Sportsbook has set is which quarterback will take the first snap for the Cleveland Browns to start the 2025 regular season. This will be one of the top storylines to watch as the Browns have loaded up their quarterback room, including drafting two different players at the position in the draft.

Let's take a look at the odds and then we'll dive into this question further.

Who Will be the Browns Starting Quarterback?

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Kenny Pickett +130
• Joe Flacco +160
• Shedeur Sanders +300
• Dillon Gabriel +1000
• Deshaun Watson +2000

One name we can already cross off the list and not bet on is Deshaun Watson. In January, Watson underwent surgery to fix his Achilles that he re-ruptured, which is likely to keep him out of the entire 2025 season, and there is almost no chance he'll be ready for Week 1.

The two veterans top the odds list to take the first snap of the season. Kenny Pickett, who's favored at +130 (43.48% implied probability), was acquired by the Browns in early March via a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. A month later, the Browns signed Joe Flacco to a one-year, $4 million deal. He helped lead the Browns to the playoffs in 2023, going 4-1 with them to close out the regular season.

The most likely option is that the better of the two quarterbacks in training camp and preseason will be given the nod to start the year.

The most surprising thing to see on the odds list is Shadeur Sanders being significantly favored over Dillion Gabriel at +300 compared to +1000. If you translate those odds to implied probability, Sanders has a 25% chance of being the week 1 starter while Gabriel's chances sit at 9.09%. Gabriel, the Oregon product, was selected two whole rounds ahead of Sanders at No. 94 overall. Sanders was eventually selected by Cleveland in the 5th round at pick No. 144.

In my opinion, Sanders would have to be one of the best players in the entire NFL preseason to leapfrog Gabriel, Pickett, and Flacco to start the season. While nothing is impossible, I'd look at one of the two vets to take the first snap of the 2025 campaign.

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