Kenny Pickett Boldly Makes 2025 Season Plan Clear After Browns Sign Joe Flacco

Cleveland appears to have a quarterback battle on its hands.
Kenny Pickett warms up before Super Bowl LIX.
Kenny Pickett warms up before Super Bowl LIX. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Cleveland Browns fans broke out into modest celebration on Friday, as the team brought back quarterback Joe Flacco after a blistering 2023 stretch that turned him into a fan favorite.

Many quickly forgot, however, that the Browns already have another healthy starting quarterback on their roster. The team acquired Kenny Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles in March after he spent a year backing up Jalen Hurts.

To his considerable credit, Pickett is attacking the premise of a quarterback battle head-on.

"I’m not going there to hang out,” the 26-year-old told Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review at Pittsburgh's spring game Saturday. “I want to go play. I’m excited, been working hard for it, taking it a day at a time.”

The 2021 Heisman third-place finisher added that he intended to start for the Browns.

In 30 games across his three-year NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Eagles, Pickett has thrown 15 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .