Browns: 2025 NFL draft smoke too dense to read with one month to go

The Cleveland Browns are at an important intersection with the second overall selection in the 2025 NFL draft.

The team needs a quarterback but they also need talent around the roster. There have been plenty of rumors on what the pick will be, so for now we can try to read the tea leaves and look into the smoke around the pick to see what direction the franchise is leaning toward. The Deshaun Watson era is over. The impact of the trade will still haunt this team for at least another season as he and his cap hit stay with the team next year, but this team is moving on to the future without him. They restructured his deal to free up cap room for some wiggle space but that’ll have little impact on his long-term status. Then the team traded for Philadelphia Eagles backup Kenny Pickett who will reportedly be given a chance to start. Cleveland would have to invest very little into the position for Pickett to actually have a chance at starting, so perhaps that suggests a rookie quarterback is in the mix.

But the team isn’t done looking at the veteran market. The team hosted Russell Wilson for a visit, and Kirk Cousins spent time with head coach Kevin Stefanski in Minnesota. How interested the Browns are in a veteran option would suggest they are not interested in a rookie quarterback, at least with the second pick.

Initially, Adam Schefter reported that the Browns would be coming away with one of the draft’s premier quarterbacks, either Miami’s Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. However, following the combine, Schefter walked that back.

As it stands currently, Cam Ward is the favorite to go first overall. So, this pick comes down to how much the Browns like Sanders, or if they prefer a day two option.Sanders’ draft stock has been all over the place, from potentially the top pick in the draft, to a slide near the end of the first. It speaks to both Sanders’ status as well as the strength of the quarterback class as a whole. Right now, it seems like the Browns wouldn’t be as excited about using the number two pick on Shedeur, opting to reset this year and pursue a new quarterback next year.

Further supporting this is that the Browns have an extra third round pick courtesy of the Buffalo Bills from the Amari Cooper trade. The smoke appears to be that Sanders is closer to a tier two prospect than he is to Cam Ward. There are multiple quarterbacks expected to go in the mid rounds, including Ole Miss’s Jaxson Dart, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Ohio State’s Will Howard, and Texas’s Quinn Ewers.Selecting one of these players frees up the team to go after a positional blue-chip player.Most of the retooling in free agency has come along the defensive line. Defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson was a cap casualty but the team moved to replace him with Maliek Collins and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. Of course, the big news was re-signing Myles Garrett to an unprecedented extension to keep him in Cleveland after his trade demands. Had Garrett been traded, tanking would almost be a certainty, but his return along with guard Joel Bitonio keeps talent in the trenches.Does re-signing Garrett and adding Joe Tryon-Shoyinka eliminate the need for Penn State’s edge rusher Abdul Carter? I wouldn’t think so but the team does have some young guys at the position in Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire they like. That would give the team a deep rotation perfect for attacking the opposing quarterbacks within the division. However, with Carter’s stress fracture that was flagged at the combine, maybe there’s just enough doubt to take the other blue-chip prospect.

The Browns openly announced they see Colorado's Heisman winning athlete Travis Hunter as a receiver first and cornerback second. This makes more sense for a team that already has Denzel Ward locking down the primary cornerback position.

Hunter is a dynamic prospect at either position, but he’d certainly slot into a receiver role better right away, allowing Jerry Jeudy to move more into the slot and Cedric Tillman on the opposite side. The added positional flexibility won’t hurt either, but it makes sense that the Browns would set up the offense for future success once they do find a quarterback.

A trade down would certainly be the most beneficial move to the team long-term as there are plenty of excellent prospects near the top of the draft, and future draft capital would help find the quarterback of the future in next year’s draft. However, it’s difficult to find a willing trade partner right now, especially after the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets made their quarterback commitments.

So, based on the Browns recent moves, I’d expect the pick to be Travis Hunter as things sit right now. I wouldn’t rule out a quarterback or Carter yet, but I believe Hunter’s versatility and overall makeup makes for a slam dunk of a pick that you can make as you retool for the future.

This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns 2025 NFL draft smoke too dense to read