Breaking down the Browns’ QB battle, plus the worst NFL trades this century and ranking the top 10 corners

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

We have officially reached Day 4 of the Micah Parsons drama. The Cowboys star requested a trade on Friday, and now, it kind of seems like the Cowboys are pretending like the request never happened. To get the bottom of what’s going on, we sent CBS Sports NFL writer Garrett Podell out to Oxnard, California, and he’ll be giving us live updates all week. (You can follow him on the social media site formerly known as Twitter here.) 

As for today’s newsletter, we’ll be giving you the latest on the Parsons situation, plus we’ll be ranking the top 10 players at each defensive position. 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. Ranking the top 10 players at each defensive position

Every year, we rank the top 10 players at each NFL position, and we’re kicking things off today with our defensive rankings. Cody Benjamin rounded up several of our NFL writers, and each writer was asked to make a top 10 list to rank each position on defense (EDGE, linebacker, cornerback, safety, interior defensive line). 

First, let’s start off by checking out our top five pass-rushers: 

EDGE
1. Myles Garrett (Browns)
2. Micah Parsons (Cowboys)
3. T.J. Watt (Steelers)
4. Maxx Crosby (Raiders)
5. Aidan Hutchinson (Lions)

If Parsons gets his extension done, that means the top four players will all have gotten a new contract this offseason. 

Now, let’s take a look at the top five corners:

Cornerback
1. Patrick Surtain II (Broncos)
2. Derek Stingley Jr. (Texans)
3. Sauce Gardner (Jets)
4. Trent McDuffie (Chiefs)
5. Christian Gonzalez (Patriots)

As I said, we ranked every defensive position. If you want to see our full list, you can do that here. 

2. Depth chart observations: Breaking down the Browns’ QB battle; Colts can’t decide on a QB

With the first full week of preseason games coming up this week, that means teams are now officially releasing a depth chart for the first time. Although there aren’t too many surprises on these initial depth charts, there were a few things that caught my eye, so let’s take a quick look. 

• Joe Flacco is QB1 right now in Cleveland. Flacco is currently on top in the Browns’ quarterback battle, but that’s almost by default. Kenny Pickett missed a chunk of practice with a hamstring injury, and despite the injury, he’s still the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart. Dillon Gabriel, who’s also dealing with a hamstring issue, is QB3, and then there’s Shedeur Sanders, who’s sitting at the bottom of the depth chart. We’ve got more details on the quarterback battle here. The Browns will be opening their preseason on Friday in Carolina. 
• Colts still deciding on a QB. The battle between Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson is officially a tie so far, as the quarterbacks were listed as co-starters on the first depth chart. There’s no reason for head coach Shane Steichen to rush this decision, so the Colts probably won’t pick a starter until after their second preseason game at the earliest. They open the preseason on Thursday against the Ravens before facing the Packers in Green Bay on Aug. 16. 
• Travis Hunter is officially going both ways. The Jaguars rookie wants to play both offense and defense this year, and based on Jacksonville’s depth chart, he’s on track to do it. Hunter was listed as a starting receiver on offense and a backup corner on defense. Hunter has been so good that Jaguars head coach Liam Coen gave him the ultimate vote of confidence this week: He said it would certainly be “possible” for Hunter to win both NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year. 

In other depth chart news, Trey Hendrickson has been listed as a THIRD-STRING defensive end on the Bengals’ first depth chart of training camp. With Hendrickson not practicing, Joseph Ossai has been listed as the starter at his spot. To put that in perspective, Terry McLaurin is still being listed as a starting receiver in Washington, so not every player who’s holding in has been demoted on the team depth chart. 

3. Cowboys drama continues with Micah Parsons

It has now been four days since Micah Parsons made his trade request, and not only is he still member of the Cowboys, but he attended practice Monday. No, he didn’t practice, but he was there. 

Here’s the latest on Parsons: 

• Cowboys head coach expecting Parsons to stay in Dallas. Brian Schottenheimer sure sounds like he expects Parsons to be sticking around this year, “We’re still planning on moving Micah around and putting him in all the spots that we see him and using our fronts the way we want to see it,” Schottenheimer said. “We go about our business every day. We focus in the moment and again like I said … I expect Micah to be here.” 
• This is a classic Jerry Jones move. The Cowboys owner seems to love drama, and we know that because this kind of situation seems to come up every year. From Parsons, to CeeDee Lamb, to Dak Prescott, to Ezekiel Elliott, there’s a long list of players who have grown frustrated while dealing with Jerry, but Jones doesn’t seem to care, because he loves the publicity. Cody Benjamin broke down why Jones seems to love all of this drama, and you can check out his story here. 
• Cowboys are only costing themselves money. If the Cowboys didn’t drag their feet in contract negotiations, the Parsons deal could have already been done at a much cheaper rate than what they’re likely going to pay. Between Lamb and Parsons, we broke down how the Cowboys could have saved at least $30 million if they had just done a deal when each player became eligible, and you can see our explanation here. 

As we mentioned at the top, Garrett Podell is in Oxnard, California, at Cowboys training camp, and you can read his full report from Monday here. 

4. Ranking the worst player trades since 2000

Now that Treylon Burks has been cut by the Titans, that means the 2022 trade that saw A.J. Brown shipped off from Tennessee to Philadelphia is going to go down as one of the most lopsided in recent NFL history. The Eagles sent the 18th overall pick to the Titans in the deal and Tennessee used that pick on Burks. 

With that trade going so badly for the Titans, Jared Dubin decided to rank the 12 worst trades that have happened in the NFL since 2000. Let’s take a look at the top three on his list. 

1. Deshaun Watson to the Browns. There is no trade that comes close to being as disastrous as this one. … The Browns surrendered first-round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024, plus a third-round pick in 2023 and fourth-round picks in 2022 and 2024, in exchange for Watson and a sixth-round pick. They then gave Watson the worst contract in the history of sports — a fully-guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal. Watson has since played in just 19 of 51 possible games and has been arguably the NFL’s worst quarterback when on the field.

2. Russell Wilson to the Broncos. Wilson was a disaster during his first season in Denver, then was mostly hidden within the offense by Sean Payton in Year 2 before the Broncos decided to cut ties and take on the most dead money in history by releasing him. 

3. Randy Moss to and from the Raiders. In March 2005, the Raiders traded first- and seventh-round picks, plus Napoleon Harris, to the Vikings for Moss, who never looked anything like himself while playing for Oakland. He lazed his way through two seasons, catching 102 passes for 1,553 yards and 11 scores in 29 games. At 29 years old, it looked like he might be done … and then the Raiders traded him to New England for a mere fourth-round pick and Moss had one of the best wide-receiver seasons in NFL history. … The Raiders got robbed coming and going on the Moss deals.

Dubin’s entire list is worth reading, and you can check it out here. 

5. QB mock draft: Lamar Jackson to the Jets and other wild what-ifs

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the NFL took every quarterback off their team and held a QB draft every year? The NFL already rewards the worst teams by giving them the highest picks in the regular draft, so imagine if the league did the same thing, but with a QB draft instead. 

In a nutshell, it would be bonkers. Cody Benjamin decided to hold a QB draft to see what would happen, so let’s take a look at his first three picks. The draft order was set by each team’s 2025 Super Bowl odds. (The team with the worst odds got the first pick.)

1. Saints: Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is the standard-setter of his time. New Orleans is starting fresh up top with new coach Kellen Moore, and what better way for the former quarterback to ingratiate himself to Who Dat Nation than by securing the most trustworthy situational point guard in the game?

2. Browns: Josh Allen. Can you imagine the elation of head coach Kevin Stefanski if he could headline the franchise’s latest rebuild with such a proven cornerstone under center?

3. Jets: Lamar Jackson. No quarterback matches Jackson in sheer multipurpose electricity, and that’s the kind of highlight-reel pizzaz the Jets franchise needs, especially after such a sad and stagnant run with Aaron Rodgers.

And in a huge spoiler alert: The Chiefs got the 29th pick and had to take Anthony Richardson. I’m guessing that not even Andy Reid could win the Super Bowl with him. Also, the final pick went to the Ravens, who ended up taking rookie quarterback Tyler Shough. Going from Lamar Jackson to Shough seems like a slight step down. 

If you want to see how the full draft plays out, be sure to head here.

6. Extra points: Teddy Bridgewater set to return for one more NFL season

It was a busy weekend in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Bridgewater expected to sign with Buccaneers. The veteran quarterback isn’t quite ready to call it a career. According to ESPN, Schefter is expected to sign with the Buccaneers today. Bridgewater originally announced his retirement following the 2023 season, but then returned in December 2024 to play for the Lions. The 32-year-old is now planning to play at least one more season, and we’ve got the details here. 
• Raiders send cornerback to Philadelphia. The Raiders and Eagles pulled off a player-for-player swap on Monday night. The Raiders sent cornerback Jakorian Bennett to Philly in exchange for defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV. We graded the trade, and you can check out our grades here. 
• Anthony Barr retires. The four-time Pro Bowler has decided to call it a career. Barr, who entered the NFL as the ninth overall pick in 2014, spent nine of his 10 seasons with the Vikings. Barr didn’t play in 2024, and now, he won’t be taking the field again after making the decision to retire. You can read more about his career here. 
• Browns sign former Pro Bowl quarterback. The Browns have added another quarterback in the form of Tyler Huntley. If you’re wondering why they would add a fifth quarterback to their quarterback competition, it’s more of a necessity thing as Kenny Pickett (hamstring), Dillon Gabriel (hamstring) and Shedeur Sanders (shoulder) have all been dealing with injuries over the past week. 
• J.J. McCarthy is playing this week. The Vikings starting quarterback will be getting some preseason reps on Saturday when Minnesota hosts Houston. McCarthy actually played in the Vikings’ first preseason game in 2024, which is when he suffered the knee injury that ended up knocking him out for the season. 
• Sean Payton says Broncos are capable of winning the Super Bowl. The Broncos head coach sounds pretty confident in his team this year. “I’ve coached six teams that I thought could win the Super Bowl. Some went to championship games, some to the playoffs. This is my seventh team that I think has that,” Payton said Monday. You can read his full comments here. 
• DK Metcalf seems impressed with the Steelers. After roughly two weeks of training camp, the Steelers receiver seems very impressed with his new team. “I think they are the best defense I’ve ever seen,” Metcalf said. “They’re some dogs on the field and I tip my hat to them because they come to work every day.” If Metcalf and Payton are both right, I guess that means we’re getting a Broncos-Steelers AFC title game this year. 
• Rams RB gets paid: Los Angeles took care of one of its best offensive players, reaching an agreement Tuesday with running back Kyren Williams on a three-year, $33 million extension. Check out all the details here.