Who Should I Start? Kirk Cousins or Kenny Pickett

Thursday, July 10, 1:51 PM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said in an episode of the Netflix series "Quarterback" that he felt "a little bit misled" when the Falcons took Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. It came just after Atlanta signed Cousins to a contract worth at least $100 million guaranteed to be their starter in 2024 and beyond. "I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high," Cousins said. The 36-year-old led the team to a 6-3 start before injuring his right shoulder. After that, the Falcons lost four straight games, with Cousins throwing eight interceptions and no touchdowns in that stretch. He was eventually benched in Week 16 for Penix, who heads into 2025 as the unquestioned starter, with Cousins backing him up. Cousins could get traded during training camp, but for now he's useless in fantasy as a backup.

Wednesday, July 23, 8:18 PM

The Akron Beacon Journal's Chris Easterling reports that Cleveland Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett spent most of the day on Wednesday in the first training camp practice working with the first-team offense, at least during 11-on-11 drills. However, Pickett went second behind veteran Joe Flacco during modified 7-on-7 work. The Browns have a QB competition going this summer, which is expected to come down to Pickett and Flacco, with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders mainly looking to prove that the Browns should keep them around beyond 2025. Pickett and Flacco will most likely rotate work with the first team in the early portions of camp. Pickett has mostly been unremarkable in offseason workouts, and Flacco is the favorite to begin the year as the starting QB in Cleveland.