The Cleveland Browns have four quarterbacks on the roster who are competing for the starting spot. However, an ESPN insider believes the team will trade one of the signal-callers before the season kicks off.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano believes the Browns will likely trade either Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, or Shedeur Sanders before Week 1, though he does predict that Pickett will win the starting job despite dealing with a hamstring injury.
“Cleveland is open to the idea of any one of the four winning the job for Week 1, and the way the coaching staff divides reps in the coming weeks could offer clues about who is in the lead. It’s also possible — even likely — they end up trading one of these guys before the season starts to ease the logjam,” Graziano wrote in an ESPN piece on Monday.
Pickett and Flacco are the favorites to win the job due to their experience. Though Pickett is currently dealing with a hamstring injury and isn’t practicing, he’s considered day-to-day and should be back soon, per head coach Kevin Stefanski.
It would be logical for Cleveland to trade one of the four quarterbacks, as they are going to have to cut one of them anyway, and getting some draft capital back instead of cutting ties with them for nothing would make a lot of sense.
As for the signal-caller who could get traded, it obviously depends on who wins the starting job and who the Browns are most comfortable with as the backup and No.3 quarterback. Trading Gabriel or Sanders could net Cleveland some value on the open market due to their potential, but trading Flacco or Pickett could also get the Browns a valuable pick.
We’ll see how the quarterback competition unfolds in Cleveland, but Graziano expects a trade to go down before the Browns host the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.
MORE: Kenny Pickett injury update: How veteran’s hamstring issue affects Shedeur Sanders, more in Browns’ QB competition
