The Cleveland Browns are entering the NFL draft this week in familiar territory. They are a team with a very high draft pick–No. 6 overall–and a willingness to move down from that pick to acquire multiple assets. The Browns did that with great success last year, moving back from No. 2 in a deal with the Jaguars that also netted Cleveland this year’s No. 24 overall pick. The Browns need depth and talent, badly, on offense as it seeks to fix a unit that was the worst in the NFL last year, and in 2024.
While there have been multiple reports of teams seeking to make trades to move around the NFL draft board, as we get closer to the day itself, much of that speculation has fallen away and ESPN insider Adam Schefter actually suggests that there will be fewer draft-board trades this season than in past years because while many teams want to trade down, few want to trade up. The opportunities for fair-value deals are much weaker.
But the Browns, Schefter said, still bear watching.
Browns Taking Calls on No. 6 Pick in NFL Draft
In a lengthy column on Monday, Schefter notes that the Browns are the one team that is most likely to move down from No. 6 as they seek to add more chances to bring in young players. The Browns have nine picks in this draft, including three in the Top 40.
Writes Schefter: “Teams expect the trades we do see to be more jockeying for position than earthshaking blockbusters, such as the deal we saw last year between the Browns and Jaguars, when Cleveland moved out of the No. 2 pick in a stunning trade with the Jaguars.
“One year later, the Browns are already taking calls about the No. 6 pick, and sources said they’re open to moving it. Another move back would give the Browns more capital in a draft in which they are already scheduled to have nine picks, including Nos. 6 and 24 in the first round.”
The long-rumored Browns swap with the Cowboys, which appeared to run out of steam in recent days, is resurrected by Schefter, who notes it is probably the most likely Browns trade-down scenario.
Andrew Berry Addresses Trades
Last week, Browns GM Andrew Berry took questions about the upcoming NFL draft and specifically, about trading down from No. 6. Berry was offhanded but obscure about the possibility, which is what won might expect from an NFL executive at this time of year.
Said Berry: “I’d go back to what I’ve said in the past, our mindset going into the draft, with our most valuable asset, isn’t about, ‘hey, just trade it away.’ It’s maximizing the asset. And that can, at different times, take different forms. It can be selecting a player, it could be trading it for a veteran, it could be trading down, it could be trading up.
“We will continue to work through all those possibilities up until, really, we get on the clock on Thursday night. But I’d say, like, we’re working through a number of different scenarios at this point.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Browns ‘Taking Calls’ on Significant NFL Draft Trade: Schefter appeared first on Heavy Sports.