Who Should I Start? Kenny Pickett or Aidan O'Connell

Monday, August 25, 8:18 PM

The Las Vegas Raiders are acquiring quarterback Kenny Pickett (hamstring) from the Cleveland Browns on Monday in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Geno Smith is the Raiders' unquestioned starter heading into the 2025 regular season in two weeks, but Pickett will now give the team plenty of backup experience after Aidan O'Connell (wrist) went down with a fractured right wrist that is expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. Pickett himself has dealt with a hamstring injury that he suffered late in July that kept him out of all three of the Browns' preseason games, but he has a chance to be available for Week 1 for the Raiders against the New England Patriots. Back in Cleveland, this trade means that one of rookie signal-callers Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders will be the QB2 behind Joe Flacco to begin the year.

Wednesday, August 27, 10:27 PM

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell (wrist) was placed on the Reserve/Injured List on Wednesday, per an announcement from the team. O'Connell suffered a fractured wrist in the team's final preseason game, which is expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. O'Connell's placement on the Reserve/Injured list guarantees that he will miss at least the team's first four games, although the six-to-eight-week timeline indicates it will most likely be a longer absence. The Raiders acquired quarterback Kenny Pickett from the Browns on Monday to take O'Connell's place as the backup behind Geno Smith. Neither Pickett nor O'Connell will have any fantasy value in 2025 unless Smith were to get injured.