Kenny Pickett didn’t flinch. Not when the Browns selected Dillon Gabriel in the fourth round. Not when they doubled down and took Shedeur Sanders in the sixth. And not when the media immediately pounced on the storyline: Pickett, once the Pittsburgh Steelers’ presumed future, now fighting for his football life in a crowded Cleveland quarterback room.
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Cleveland Browns QB Kenny Pickett Embraces the Gauntlet With Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders
But if the former first-round pick felt any pressure, he didn’t show it. Speaking with reporters during Day 2 of Browns OTAs on May 28, Pickett kept his focus firmly on the field. While outside noise swirled around the team’s quarterback situation, Pickett emphasized a simple truth — he’s been here before.
“I don’t think anything really changed for me,” Pickett said when asked about Cleveland adding Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL Draft. “Our job is to play football. Everyone has a job in the building to do, so I’m just focused on my job and coming out here and competing and being as prepared as I can be for these guys out here.”
That job may be short-lived in Cleveland. With Deshaun Watson likely to miss a chunk of the 2025 season after re-tearing his Achilles in January, the Browns are bracing for a temporary starter — and possibly a long-term insurance policy. Pickett, who spent the 2024 season backing up Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts after two rollercoaster seasons in Pittsburgh, is fighting for his NFL future in a quarterback room that also includes Joe Flacco, Gabriel, and Sanders.
Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco unfazed by #Browns drafting QBs Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders pic.twitter.com/oRDVq7qRrP
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) May 28, 2025
Still, he isn’t buying into the manufactured drama.
“The outside world makes it up a lot bigger than it is,” Pickett said. “When you’re day-to-day and you’re in meetings with these guys, you’re out at practice, you spend so much time together, of course, we’re all competing. But you become friends with everybody.”
It’s a refreshing — and perhaps temporary — perspective. Despite the camaraderie Pickett described, the reality is stark: It’s every man for himself. And with training camp looming, the Browns could ultimately move Pickett via trade or release, especially if a younger option flashes.
“We’re helping each other. There’s an open dialogue in the quarterback room to help each other grow,” Pickett continued. “So I think it’s a great media headline, but when you get in the building and a quarterback room, at least all the ones that I’ve been in, it’s a great place to be. You really become friends with these guys, and we’re just pushing each other.”
The Browns’ OTA period runs through June 19, with breaks between phases. By the time training camp rolls around, the pecking order may look very different. But for now, Pickett is approaching the competition the only way he knows how — head down, eyes forward, and no time for distractions.
Because friendship or not, everyone knows how this story ends in the NFL: Someone’s getting cut.