The Cleveland Browns have multiple picks in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, including No. 2 overall, and there is debate about what they should do with their first-round selection, given how top-heavy this class is and how many glaring needs the roster has on both sides of the ball.
It looks like the Browns are leaning toward picking edge rusher Abdul Carter or wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, and one draft expert recently named which prospect actually should be drafted to address the team’s biggest need.
Matt Miller’s recent ESPN article weighed each team’s biggest need against the potential first-round value of its pick.
He said that finding a franchise quarterback is still Cleveland’s most pressing need and mocked Shedeur Sanders to them at No. 2.
“Even after adding Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, the Browns need a franchise QB with Deshaun Watson likely lost for the season and his future in Cleveland in serious doubt. Let’s take Sanders, the second-best QB on my board,” Miller wrote.
Drafting Sanders would be a full-circle moment after most assumed he’d be the pick months ago before his stock started falling while Cleveland made ancillary moves at quarterback, such as trading for Pickett and signing Flacco
There have been reports that Sanders could be in play for the Browns in the second round, or potentially in the latter part of the first round if he falls down the board and Cleveland decides to trade up and secure a highly coveted fifth year of team control on his rookie deal.
There aren’t many teams left that appear to be in the market for a quarterback at the top of first round, aside from potentially the New Orleans Saints, and if Sanders falls past them at No. 9 overall, he could be in for a long wait, perhaps until the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 overall.
Sanders would undoubtedly solve a huge need for the Browns, but it doesn’t look like that will happen unless they trade back into the first round after making their initial selection.