The Cleveland Browns are in the catbird seat with the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, which can set them up at quarterback for the next decade.
However, the good fortune that allowed Cleveland to slide up the draft board over the last few weeks of the season came with a bit of bad luck as well. Last year’s draft class contained six quarterbacks who went inside the top 12, two of whom led their teams to the postseason: Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders (No. 2) and Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos (No. 12).
This year, however, there are only two QBs with first-round draft grades: Cam Ward of the Miami Hurricanes and Shedeur Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes. Those two players, who may well have fallen behind Nix in last year’s draft order, are potentially poised to go at Nos. 1 and 2 given the need across the league for signal-callers and a relatively weak free agent class at the position.
The Browns desperately need an inexpensive replacement for Deshaun Watson, who is heading into the fourth season of his disastrous five-year, $230 million contract having torn his Achilles tendon for a second time during the rehabilitation process for the initial injury. The second overall pick is the perfect avenue to attain a solution.
That said, there is also a ton of potential value in trading back with an equally QB-needy team and looking to free agency for a short-term solution. But two recent mock drafts from insiders Mel Kiper of ESPN and Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network project Cleveland won’t do either, but will opt instead to select Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter at No. 2.
Travis Hunter May Be Too Talented for Browns to Pass Up
GettyWide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter of the Colorado Buffaloes.
Sanders is the more likely candidate to be available to Cleveland at No. 2, as Kiper predicted the Tennessee Titans will select Ward first overall. Jeremiah predicted that both Ward and Sanders will fall past Cleveland, with Ward landing in New York at No. 3 and Sanders headed to Las Vegas at No. 6.
The theme both Jeremiah and Kiper cultivated for why the Browns would go Hunter in that spot is essentially the same — that he is too talented and versatile to pass up.
“Quarterback is in play here for the Browns, but in this scenario they pick Hunter, the Heisman Trophy-winning two-way star,” Jeremiah wrote on Saturday, January 25. “I’m in the minority as someone who prefers him as a full-time offensive player who moonlights on defense.”
Kiper voiced something similar.
“Hunter is just that good. I see elite quickness and ball skills on both sides of the ball, traits that helped him to 15 touchdown catches and four interceptions this season,” Kiper wrote on January 22. “The Browns would likely use him primarily at receiver and then sprinkle him in at cornerback in specific situations.”
Browns Will Tip Hand on No. 2 Pick When Free Agency Hits in March
GettyHead coach Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns.
Should the Browns land on Hunter, it would be an indication the team is taking a longer view of its rebuild and will probably seek a veteran bridge quarterback in free agency.
However, because the draft takes place in April and free agency begins in March, Cleveland is going to tip its hand on the second pick weeks before the team makes it.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks Justin Fields and Russell Wilson are each potential free agents, though Wilson will probably be too costly to make sense for the Browns. The same is true of Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings.
But former Vikings QB Kirk Cousins could be in the mix if the Atlanta Falcons decide to release him during the offseason, which is a likely outcome as the team benched him mid-season and will owe him a $10 million roster bonus as a likely backup if they don’t cut him before mid-March.
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