Kenny Pickett Speaks Out Honestly About Browns' QB Room

Cleveland's QBs seem to be off to a good start as teammates.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett throws during an NFL practice at the Cleveland Browns training facility on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cleveland Browns OTAs began on Tuesday, giving the team and its fans the opportunity to see their four new quarterbacks out on the field for the first time. The position battle projects to be an open competition, where each of Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders have an equal chance to win the job.

Who the Week 1 starter will be has been a hot topic among analysts, fans and members of the Browns community. However, the players themselves have shut down any suggestions that the QB competition could bring animosity among each other. In rookie minicamp media availability, Gabriel labeled a question about the topic as "divisive," and Pickett shared a similar sentiment after OTAs on Wednesday.

The veteran passer said the outside world makes the situation between Cleveland's quarterbacks much bigger than it actually is.

"When you're day-to-day, you're in meetings with these guys, you're out at practice, you spend so much time together," Pickett said. "Of course we're all competing, but you become friends with everybody. There's an open dialogue in the quarterback room to help each other grow. I think it's a great media headline, but when you get in the building in a quarterback room, at least all the ones that I've been in, you really become friends with these guys and we're just pushing each other."

Pickett and Flacco have a combined 20 years of experience in the NFL, and while both want to win the starting quarterback job, they're also working to mentor the team's two rookie passers. Regardless of what the media narrative is, it seems like the Browns are looking to build a strong brotherhood in the QB room.