Last week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the “sense” was that the Cleveland Browns had eyes for Cam Ward, though he added that he thought the Miami Hurricanes star would be the top overall pick.
He then reported Tuesday that the Tennessee Titans have become “increasingly impressed with Ward and, while they are expected to listen to offers for the No. 1 overall pick, it now would take an even stronger package to acquire the draft’s top selection.”
In other words, the Browns are either going to pay a hefty price to trade up and select Ward, or they are going to have to move on to Plan B, which could be trading down from the No. 2 selection.
And that’s apparently a very real possibility. According to NFL reporter Josina Anderson, “one team’s current view [is] that Cleveland sounds potentially open to trading back, per a league source.”
For now, it appears the Browns have four major avenues to consider at this year’s draft. Option one, the aforementioned trade up to No. 1. The Browns have plenty of other needs around the roster, however, and breaking the bank to get up to the top overall pick would cost them valuable draft assets in the future.
If they believe Ward truly had the ability to be an elite player, however, the juice might be worth the squeeze.
Option No. 2, the Browns stay put and draft a different quarterback, ostensibly Shedeur Sanders. It’s obvious at this point that Deshaun Watson isn’t a reliable long-term option and identifying a new face of the franchise is important.
Still, you won’t find many people who have Sanders anywhere close to No. 2 on their big boards—the B/R NFL Scouting Department, for instance, has him at No. 18—so option three would be to stay put and draft the best non-quarterback on the board, either Penn State edge-rusher Abdul Carter or Colorado wideout and cornerback Travis Hunter. Either would provide the Browns with a dynamic talent at an important position while getting strong value, as opposed to reaching for a quarterback.
And finally, option No. 4—selling the pick to the highest bidder, ostensibly a team interested in moving up the board to take Sanders. This route is really only viable if another team deeply covets Sanders and is willing to give up a boatload of future draft capital to get him.
