Browns are not expected to exercise Kenny Pickett's 2026 option

The Browns have a lot to sort out at quarterback in 2025, but they've reportedly moved ahead with a decision about 2026 before that process gets going.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that the team will not exercise their fifth-year option on Kenny Pickett's contract. Pickett was a Steelers first-round pick in 2022 and the option went with him when he was traded to the Eagles and the Browns since the end of the 2022 season.

Pickett went into last week set to compete with Joe Flacco for the starting job in Cleveland, but the picture looks quite different this week. The Browns drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round and then traded up to select Shedeur Sanders after passing on the chance to draft him several times.

How all of those pieces fit will be the object of much attention over the coming months, but the Browns passing on the options is unsurprising regardless of how things shake out. Pickett would be guaranteed $22.117 million under the terms of the option and that's too high a price given how things have played out over his first three seasons.