The Indianapolis Colts are hoping one of their two 2025 quarterbacks, both seeming to be first-round busts, though with different teams, will hit. Maybe Anthony Richardson finds himself in year three. Perhaps Daniel Jones' change of teams will help him become good.
Or maybe one recent trade pitch will prove sadly correct. Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report believes that Indy should add yet another first-round bust to create even more Colts quarterback chaos. Knox suggests that Indianapolis pick up Kenny Pickett from the Cleveland Browns.
To be fair to Pickett, he currently plays on a team that has about 400 QBs. Cleveland, in its lack of common sense, has often injured Deshaun Watson, who will miss most or all of this coming season with another Achilles injury, two veteran QBs (Pickett and Joe Flacco), and took two quarterbacks (Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders) in the 2025 draft.
NFL analyst pitches the Indianapolis Colts trade for the Browns' Kenny Pickett
Pickett is most likely a cut candidate compared to all the others. He was chosen in the first round of the 2022 draft, but wasn't good with the Pittsburgh Steelers. What does he have to offer the Colts that Indianapolis doesn't already have? Just another quarterback that once was seen as having high upside but hasn't fulfilled expectations.
Knox writes, "does have 25 starts on his resume, is only 27 years old, and spent last season learning behind reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts with the (Philadelphia Eagles)...the Colts, who employ former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen as their head coach (would be a good fit for Pickett)."
There is no need for Indy to add a third quarterback, unless that third QB is much closer to a sure thing than Pickett. Heck, even adding Flacco again would make sense for the Colts. Flacco, though, makes much more sense to stick with the Browns as he continues to have the kind of low-level success that the other QBs with the Browns don't yet have.
Maybe Cleveland will do the Cleveland thing of releasing Flacco and keeping Pickett. If that is the case, Indy wouldn't need to trade for Flacco, but simply pick him up as a free agent. What Indianapolis doesn't need to do is waste draft capital or a veteran player in a trade for Kenny Pickett when Pickett might not even make the team. He's been no better than Daniel Jones, for instance.
Instead, the Indianapolis Colts should just ride out the Jones and Anthony Richardson combo and hope for the best. The rest of the team around them is pretty decent, especially at the offensive skill positions. Perhaps Jones and Richardson are just good enough not to hurt the team overall.