DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2017 NFL Season 2017 NFL Draft What if the Browns traded UP to pick # 2

Intriguing what if: Browns trade to gain draft's top two picks

7:00 AM ET

Pat McManamon
ESPN Staff Writer

There's a way for the Cleveland Browns to own the draft and take a giant step forward in 2017.

That would be to take a bunch of those extra draft picks they have now and use them to move up from the 12th spot to ... oh ... second.

That kind of trade could net the Browns two standout defensive players to transform a weak side of the ball. Imagine Gregg Williams using defensive tackle Jonathan Allen the way he used Aaron Donald for the Rams, with Myles Garrett also lining up to rush the passer.

Or it could net the Browns a quarterback and a defensive player. Two problems solved, assuming they get the picks right.

Not a bad way to depart a draft.

This all supposes that either San Francisco or Chicago would trade out of the second or third spot, respectively. Both teams have shaky quarterback situations, so both might prefer to stay where they are. The Browns' analytics also might show that they can stay right where they are at 12 and wind up with an excellent defender. Donald, after all, was the 13th overall pick in 2014.

However, it's also possible that the Browns could come up with some analytics to make a trade work.

The starting point, of course, would be the Browns' 12th and 33rd picks this season. The Browns and Eagles set the price for this pick a year ago when Cleveland sent the second overall pick in the 2016 draft to Philadelphia, a pick that wound up being Carson Wentz.

That deal brought Cleveland five picks: first-, third- and fourth-round choices in 2016, and first- and second-round picks in this year's draft.

The Eagles also got a fourth-round pick.

Let's say the two fourth-round picks negate each other, and that the Browns might be able to get the second overall pick for four draft picks.

What would work, based on the chart that assigns points to draft spots, would be this:

Cleveland's 12th pick this season (1,200 points)

Cleveland's 33rd overall pick, the first in the second round (580)

The second-round pick the Browns acquired from Tennessee (400 points)

The second-round pick in 2018 the Browns acquired from Philadelphia (estimated at 400 points).

That means the Browns would give up picks worth 2,580 points.
 The second overall pick is worth 2,600 points; the third is worth 2,200. Obviously, to move up to the third pick, the Browns would have to know the player they want is there, so dealing with Chicago might come down to draft day. But a deal with the 49ers could be completed at any point.

By making this proposed deal, the Browns would be giving up two extra picks they acquired via trade. They'd be swapping first-round choices. Which means, in essence, they'd be moving up 10 spots for one of their own draft picks, a second-round choice.

It would void them in the second round, but it would give them two of the best players in the draft in the first round. Consider DeShaun Watson or Mitch Trubisky or DeShone Kizer along with Garrett or Allen.

Is it worth it? It might well be -- if the Browns get the picks right.

Can it happen?

The 49ers would need to be convinced. But if ever there were a year it could happen, it's this one. None of the quarterbacks is considered top-10 material. Some analysts don't think the quarterbacks are even worth selecting in the first round. So San Francisco might well feel that numbers of players is better than over-drafting for position.

The Browns, of course, would be over-drafting if they took a quarterback first or second, but that issue would be soothed somewhat by also winding up with a top defender.

Could this happen? Anything is possible in the NFL, especially when it comes to the draft.

Will it happen? There's no way of knowing. At this point, nobody even knows what Hue Jackson thinks of the top quarterbacks or top players.

But it would sure be fun if it did, and it sure would turn all those trades into an interesting cache: the two top players in the draft.

http://www.espn.com/blog/cleveland-brown...s-top-two-picks


I do not know if this has been posted or not, but it may deserve it's own thread for discussion...

I wish I got paid to write pipe dreams...

We know the Browns could attempt to make the trade... but would they .. and if so .. who would they pick? Would they go Defense with both picks or Defense and QB ? We know the team has needs, but do they consider the needs great enough to #2 or #3 ?

Many on the board have said "No to trade down", but what about trade up ? If they do trade up, should it be in a big way ?

McNanobrain at it again. "Why not trade all your valuable assets in the deepest draft in years to move up to number 2 to take any one of five players, some of which will be available at 12?"



Should have stopped there.

Would much rather move #50 and #12 to pick 6 and get Hooker or Solomon Thomas (who seems more like Donald to me than Allen... Allen seems more like Suh to me.)


I'd be happy to have both Allen and Garrett of course, but it would be too steep a price.

What if we offered them ONLY our seventh round pick and they said, "sure, why not?"????????

No!!! Still too much.

Ok so the guy is reading my posts on this forum ... I already proposed this trade over a week ago but to nab garrett and allen and have a monster defensive line. Now that we are going back to a 4-3 it makes even more sense IMHO.

I would just trade for Jimmy G rather than move up to grab a QB in this draft.