Quarterback · Carolina Panthers
Kenny Pickett
No. 12 · 5th season
Kenny Pickett gets the first snap of a new beginning
The Hall of Fame Game is the earliest football gets, and Thursday night, Kenny Pickett will be the first one under center for the Carolina Panthers when they face the Arizona Cardinals. That is a small thing on paper. It is not a small thing for Pickett.
He came to Carolina after his time in Pittsburgh didn't end the way anyone hoped. A quarterback who arrives somewhere new carries a question with them everywhere they go — and the only way to start answering it is to play. Starting a preseason opener doesn't settle that question, but it signals something. The coaching staff is handing him the first reps, the first moment, the first chance to remind people what they see in him.
That's what Thursday is, really. Not a prove-it game — those come later. Just a first step in front of new teammates, a new organization, and the cameras that will be watching anyway.
Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
Panthers QB Kenny Pickett will start Thursday night's Hall of Fame Game vs. the Cardinals. https://t.co/sfcNILJmFJ
4:11 PM · Aug 3, 2026
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