The NFL draft is a long process starting, for most teams, as the previous regular season is coming to an end. The Cleveland Browns 2024 NFL season was so bad that Browns fans had been looking ahead to the 2025 NFL draft starting in about October.
In January, long before the NFL combine, CB/WR Travis Hunter and QB Shedeur Sanders were seen as the two options for Cleveland with their top pick. Fast forward over three months and the Browns traded out of the chance to select Hunter but see Sanders still sitting on the board along with WR Luther Burden III and a number of other top prospects.
GM Andrew Berry has a lot of options to start Day 2 of the 2025 NFL draft, especially with both the 33rd and 36th picks early in the second round and four picks in total on Friday.
Cleveland also has a chance to trade out of the top spot in the second round.
Two years ago, in a trade up for QB Will Levis, the Tennessee Titans traded picks #41, 72 and the following year’s third-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for picks #33 and 81. Putting it all together, the Cardinals received the value of a third-round selection to move down eight spots.
A similar trade would make sense between the Browns and New Orleans Saints on Day 2 of this year’s draft:
The Saints at 40 and offering pick 93 (3rd) to move up to 33 for Sanders if they want him is a possibility I’d eye
— Clevta (@Clevta) April 25, 2025
Adding a sixth pick in the top 100, in a draft class that has a lot of value in that range, would be a huge gain for Cleveland, especially with them selecting just a few picks later. The proposed Saints trade would have the Browns with the following selections on Day 2:
- 2nd Round – No. 36
- 2nd Round – No. 40
- 3rd Round – No. 67
- 3rd Round – No. 93
- 3rd Round – No. 94
In a mini-mock draft, using Pro Football Network’s simulator, Cleveland could then add (similar to our Day 2 mock draft from Friday morning):
- RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
- QB Jalen Milroe, Alabama (Sanders off the board to the Saints in the trade up)
- WR Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
- TE Elijah Arroyo, Miami (Fl)
- S Kevin Winston Jr, Penn State
Keeping similar picks, the move down ended up trading out Shedeur Sanders for Jalen Milroe and Elijah Arroyo but don’t focus on the names as much as the value.
Last night, as the bottom of the first round played out, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler noted the Browns desire to keep the No. 33 pick was due to “Day 2 leverage that pick affords.” A clear sign that Berry will probably be on the phone most of the day today.
Do you think the Browns should be willing to trade out of the 33rd pick or need to stay where they are and just add the top talent on their list? Does adding an extra third-rounder (like Arroyo) change how you think about a potential trade?
