week

season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/las-vegas-raiders/grading-espns-browns-raiders-michael-mayer-trade-proposal-involving-no-2-pick');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grading ESPN’s Browns-Raiders Michael Mayer trade proposal involving No. 2 pick');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Grading-ESPNs-Browns-Raiders-Michael-Mayer-trade-proposal-involving-No.-2-pick.jpg"></figure><h1>Grading ESPN’s Browns-Raiders Michael Mayer trade proposal involving No. 2 pick</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-06T12:58:29-07:00">April 6th, 12:58pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-06T12:58:29-07:00">April 6th, 12:58pm</time><address><a>Ben Strauss</a>Ben Strauss is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a die-hard NFL fan who cheers for the Detroit Lions. He has previously written fantasy football content for IDPGuys and ImportantNonsense.com.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/2025-nfl-draft-order-prospects-targets">2025 NFL Draft is less than three weeks away</a>. In fact, many NFL teams are putting the final touches on their big boards and determining who they want to target in the draft. Now is the time where many NFL analysts begin getting a little more creative with their mock drafts. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell did just that in a recent article.</p><p>Barnwell released an article on Monday that included a <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2025/story/_/id/44427621/2025-nfl-mock-draft-all-trades-deals-32-round-1-picks-players-parsons-cousins" rel="noopener">trade for every single pick in the first round</a> of the 2025 NFL Draft. In essence, this exercise can be viewed as getting a sense of the value of each pick. It also shows which teams might be interested in moving up or down the draft board come April 24th.</p><p>The Raiders are one team that finds themselves in an interesting position for making a draft-day trade.</p><p>On one hand, the Raiders are a rebuilding team that could stand to trade down and acquire more picks to accelerate their rebuild.</p><p>On the other hand, Las Vegas could make an aggressive move up the board to snag one of this year’s blue-chip prospects. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/las-vegas-raiders/raiders-news-brock-bowers-eye-opening-prediction-rob-gronkowski">Raiders know what rookie Brock Bowers accomplished in 2024</a> and may be tempted to go snag another player of his caliber.</p><p>But who might the Raiders be interested in trading up for?</p><p>Below we will explore Bill Barnwell’s <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/las-vegas-raiders/nfl-rumors-raiders-open-trading-michael-mayer-brock-bowers-emergence">trade proposal that would send Michael Mayer</a> to the Browns.</p><h2><b>Bill Barnwell recommends the Raiders use Michael Mayer to trade up in 2025 NFL Draft</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Michael-Mayer-celebrates-against-the-Los-Angeles-Chargers.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Let’s dive into the terms of this trade offer before getting into any analysis.</p><p><b>Raiders receive: </b></p><ul><li>2025 first-round pick (second overall)</li><li>2027 seventh-round pick (conditional)</li></ul><p><b>Browns receive: </b></p><ul><li>TE Michael Mayer</li><li>2025 first-round pick (sixth overall)</li><li>2025 second-round pick (37th overall)</li><li>2026 fourth-round pick</li></ul><p>This is quite an interesting trade proposal from Bill Barnwell.</p><p>The Raiders pay a hefty price to move up just four spots in the draft. Las Vegas could stay put and land a talented player at sixth overall. In fact, many draft analysts predict the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/las-vegas-raiders/raiders-rumors-insider-makes-ashton-jeanty-best-pro-bowl-chance-declaration">Raiders will stay and pick Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty</a> at sixth overall.</p><p>So why the trade up?</p><p>Barnwell believes the Raiders should happily pay that price to acquire a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/nfl-rumors-teams-feel-travis-hunter-position-colorado-pro-day">generational player like Travis Hunter</a>.</p><p>“For the Raiders, this is their chance to add a transcendent player,” Barnwell wrote. “Travis Hunter is probably not making it to No. 6, and new coach Pete Carroll — a legendary defensive backs coach — has been know to defy positional value if there’s a player he really loves in the secondary. (Remember, he once traded two first-round picks for Jamal Adams.)”</p><p>Barnwell further explained the rationale for targeting a player like Hunter. He also explained how the conditional pick in this trade could work.</p><p>“Hunter would be an immediate hit at cornerback, and I’m sure Carroll would have few qualms about putting Hunter at wide receiver as well,” Barnwell added. “Las Vegas would also land a conditional pick that could turn into a fourth-rounder in 2027 if Mayer, who was drafted two regimes ago, racks up 600 receiving yards over the next two seasons in Cleveland.”</p><p>Travis Hunter is a truly special player. He is an incredibly rare two-way player who can play both offense and defense. Hunter is an incredible wide receiver, but he is an even better cornerback.</p><p>Hunter played on both sides of the ball during his collegiate career at Colorado. This versatility is one of reason why he is so coveted by most NFL teams.</p><p>As Barnwell explained, the Raiders could start Hunter as a cornerback and sprinkle him in on the offensive side of the ball from time to time. This is how many NFL draft experts expect any team would use Hunter at the professional level.</p><p>The Raiders have Eric Stokes, Jakorian Bennett, and Decamerion Richardson as their top cornerbacks heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. Adding a lockdown cornerback like Hunter would be a great move. It would look even better when Hunter contributes as a receiver on offense.</p><p>Meanwhile, from the Browns perspective, they have plenty to be excited about from this trade.</p><p>Cleveland is in a desperate state after the Deshaun Watson trade was a complete failure. Adding a talented player like Mayer and two additional draft picks is a great haul, especially for only moving down four picks.</p><p>At worst, the Browns can kick the tires on Mayer for a few seasons and add more players on cheap contracts in preparation for their eventual tear down and rebuild.</p><p>Kudos to Bill Barnwell on coming up with such a good win-win trade scenario.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grading ESPN’s Browns-Raiders Michael Mayer trade proposal involving No. 2 pick

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-dan-orlovsky-travis-hunter-floor-2025-nfl-draft');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dan Orlovsky sets Travis Hunter’s floor in the 2025 NFL Draft');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Travis-Hunter.jpg"><figcaption>© Cris Tiller / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Dan Orlovsky sets Travis Hunter’s floor in the 2025 NFL Draft</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-04T18:32:05-07:00">April 4th, 6:32pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-04T18:32:05-07:00">April 4th, 6:32pm</time><address><a>Dakota Zientek</a>Dakota Zientek graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020 and has been writing about the NFL ever since. As a die-hard NFL fan, Dakota's fandom rides with the Chicago Bears through thick and thin -- regardless of how much pain it has caused his heart throughout the years. One day, he believes he will celebrate the Bears winning a Super Bowl. Maybe even... a few?</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Following the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-football/colorado-football-pre-draft-showcase-broadcast">Colorado football program’s Pro Day</a> on Friday, featuring Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter — among other draft-eligible Buffaloes — the Cleveland Browns have been a hot name heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. With the No. 2 pick in the draft, they’re seemingly <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-rumors-cleveland-zeroes-in-on-no-2-pick-if-cam-ward-is-unavailable">choosing between Hunter, Abdul Carter, or Shedeur Sanders</a>. Now, of those names, ESPN analyst and 12-year NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky thinks the Browns have an <a href="https://x.com/ESPNNFL/status/1908259598298964014" rel="noopener">easy decision</a> with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.</p><p>“So, if I were the Cleveland Browns or New York Giants, Travis Hunter would be my pick,” Orlovsky said via the NFL on ESPN account on X. “If I’m the Browns, Travis Hunter is my pick at [No. 2]. It’s an easy decision for me. If, for some reason that they don’t take him, if I’m the Giants and it’s Shedeur Sanders or Travis Hunter — I really like Shedeur — but this is an easy decision. I’m taking Travis Hunter as quickly as possible.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I'm taking Travis Hunter as quickly as possible."<a href="https://twitter.com/danorlovsky7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@danorlovsky7</a> on what the Browns or Giants should do with the 2nd or 3rd pick ✍️ <a href="https://t.co/TkoIJ8esiA">pic.twitter.com/TkoIJ8esiA</a></p><p>— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/1908259598298964014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>With the belief that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tennessee-titans/titans-rumors-teams-believe-targeting-cam-ward-no-1-pick">Cam Ward will be the No. 1 pick</a> — even the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/nfl-rumors-giants-trade-with-titans-no-1-pick-espn-mock-draft">Tennessee Titans aren’t the ones making the selection</a> — that puts the Browns in a spot to pick between two elite non-quarterbacks. If they don’t choose to do so, they’d be selecting the second quarterback in a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/afc-scout-reveals-harsh-take-on-2025-nfl-draft-quarterback-class">somewhat weaker draft class</a>, which could be a questionable decision with the No. 2 overall pick.</p><p>However, Dan Orlovsky thinks Hunter is the clear and easy choice at No. 2, which could be a reality once the 2025 NFL Draft comes around.</p><p>And while there’s a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-rumors-why-mel-kiper-picks-abdul-carter-travis-hunter-mock-draft">debate on whether he or Carter is the right choice</a> with the second pick, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-rumors-why-several-execs-dont-view-shedeur-sanders-as-a-first-round-pick">Shedeur seems comfortably out of the conversation</a> for Cleveland. With the NFL Draft being so unpredictable, there’s a chance Sanders gets selected by the Browns. But, the more likely outcome is that Hunter or Carter gets chosen.</p><p>As a receiver-corner hybrid, Hunter is truly elite at both positions. He’s possibly a better corner than receiver, but with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/colorado-football-news-travis-hunter-confirms-two-way-nfl-ambitions">Hunter’s NFL aspirations of playing both ways</a> — like he did with Colorado — he’s a dream for a need-heavy franchise like the Browns.</p><p>With that, Abdul Carter makes sense for the No. 2 pick, too. Having a defensive front including him and Myles Garrett could be an absolutely dominant force.</p><p>But with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-kevin-stefanski-gets-real-on-qb-uncertainty-entering-2025-offseason">quarterback situation the Browns are in</a> because of Deshaun Watson, selecting Travis Hunter in the 2025 NFL Draft and hoping to get Sanders in the top of the second round could be their best option if they’re hoping to pair the two Colorado football stars. If not, there’d be nothing wrong with the Browns taking Carter and possibly creating the best EDGE pairing in the NFL.</p><p>Regardless of who they pick between Hunter and Carter, the Browns should be pretty pumped with their incoming first-round rookie.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dan Orlovsky sets Travis Hunter’s floor in the 2025 NFL Draft

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-brass-met-shedeur-sanders-travis-hunter');   ga('set', 'title', 'Browns brass met with Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Shedeur-Sanders-Travis-Hunter.jpg"><figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Browns brass met with Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-04T16:04:53-07:00">April 4th, 4:04pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-04T16:04:53-07:00">April 4th, 4:04pm</time><address><a>Dakota Zientek</a>Dakota Zientek graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020 and has been writing about the NFL ever since. As a die-hard NFL fan, Dakota's fandom rides with the Chicago Bears through thick and thin -- regardless of how much pain it has caused his heart throughout the years. One day, he believes he will celebrate the Bears winning a Super Bowl. Maybe even... a few?</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With less than a month until the 2025 NFL Draft, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/kevin-stefanskis-eye-opening-shedeur-sanders-take-could-be-a-hint-at-browns-nfl-draft-plans">Cleveland Browns are seemingly interested in Shedeur Sanders</a> and Travis Hunter, two of the hotter names in the class. With Hunter coming into the draft as one of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/2025-nfl-draft-order-prospects-targets">top prospects in the class</a>, he could be a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-rumors-cleveland-urged-draft-travis-hunter-over-shedeur-sanders-former-gm">serious contender for the No. 2 pick</a>, depending on what the Tennessee Titans do. But, with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-rumors-why-several-execs-dont-view-shedeur-sanders-as-a-first-round-pick">Sanders’ draft stock slipping out of the first round</a>, it appears the Browns <a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-news-roundup-latest-league-updates-from-friday-april-4#browns" rel="noopener">might try pairing</a> Hunter and Sanders at the NFL level, too.</p><p>“The Browns’ top brass, including owner Jimmy Haslam, spent Thursday night at dinner with Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter and QB Shedeur Sanders, NFL Network chief national reporter Steve Wyche reported Friday. Haslam, general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski were among many Browns leaders at Colorado’s pro day as well, per Wyche,” via NFL.com.</p><p>After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-football/colorado-football-news-travis-hunter-named-heisman-winner-over-ashton-jeanty">winning the 2024 Heisman Trophy</a>, it was clear Hunter would be one of the first picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. And with the Browns holding pick No. 2, they’d need just one team — the Titans — to pass on him.</p><p>Along with trying to acquire Travis Hunter, the Browns could <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/mel-kiper-jr-travis-hunter-shedeur-sanders-same-team-draft-giants" rel="noopener">double-dip on players</a> from Colorado’s football program, as Cleveland holds the second pick of the second round, too. If the Browns really wanted to, they could pair the collegiate teammates at the next level, hoping to get similar production out of the Colorado stars.</p><p>Across their time at Jackson State and Colorado, here’s how both prospects filled the stat sheet:</p><ul><li><b>Shedeur Sanders: </b>70.1% completion (1,264/1,803), 14,327 passing yards, 134 passing TDs, 27 INTs, 152 sacks taken, 399 carries, 29 rushing yards, 17 rushing TDs</li><li><b>Travis Hunter:</b> 171 receptions, 2,167 receiving yards, 24 receiving TDs, 86 tackles, 26 pass breakups, 9 INTs, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery</li></ul><p>Now, when dissecting Sanders’ stats, two things jump off the page immediately. Firstly, his yards per carry is an astonishing 0.07 yards per carry. While that might come across as shocking — because it is — the 152 sacks he took dipped into his rushing stats quite a bit. In fact, in only one season — 2022 — with positive rushing yardage: 173 yards.</p><p>However, Shedeur ended the year with negative rushing yards in three of his four seasons of college football.</p><p>Although his escapability in the pocket is less than ideal, he’s an incredibly accurate quarterback, ending multiple seasons with a greater-than-70% completion percentage. For context, the NFL’s <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2024/passing.htm#passing::pass_cmp_perc" rel="noopener">highest completion percentage</a> for a quarterback who played in all 17 games of 2024 was Jared Goff (72.4%). Shedeur’s completion percentage was 74% in 2024, however, it wasn’t against NFL competition.</p><p>So, while there isn’t much justification needed for drafting Travis Hunter, the Browns’ dinner with him and Shedeur Sanders paints the picture that Cleveland could try double-dipping with these two Colorado stars in the 2025 NFL Draft.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Browns brass met with Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-dan-orlovsky-travis-hunter-kirk-cousins-browns');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dan Orlovsky envisions Travis Hunter joining forces with Kirk Cousins, Browns');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Colorado-WR-Travis-Hunter_6e488d.jpg"></figure><h1>Dan Orlovsky envisions Travis Hunter joining forces with Kirk Cousins, Browns</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T12:55:48-07:00">April 3rd, 12:55pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T12:55:48-07:00">April 3rd, 12:55pm</time><address><a href="https://matthew516sports.substack.com/">Douglas Fritz</a>Douglas Fritz has been writing about sports for almost four decades and publishes a Christian sports newsletter and podcast on Substack at Matthew516Sports. He started as a reporter for the student newspaper at East Tennessee State University, worked his way up to Editor-In-Chief, and began his sports writing career at the Johnson City Press daily newspaper while still in college. During 30-plus years at the Press, he covered University of Tennessee football, men's and women's basketball, ETSU athletics, and high school athletics. Among the people he has interviewed are Dale Murphy, Bobby Cox, John Smoltz, and Bruce Smith. He is also a Christian-based screenwriter (five feature-length and one short), book writer (three completed manuscripts and one novel), and songwriter.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-myles-garrett-issued-challenge-historic-160-million-contract-extension">Cleveland Browns kept their main man</a> on the defensive side of the football. And there’s talk they could <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/kevin-stefanskis-eye-opening-shedeur-sanders-take-could-be-a-hint-at-browns-nfl-draft-plans">consider a quarterback at No. 2</a> in the draft. However, Dan Orlovsky said he envisions Travis Hunter joining forces with Kirk Cousins in Cleveland.</p><p>Orlovsky said Cousins <a href="https://x.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1907836068524618238" rel="noopener">will land in</a> Cleveland, according to a post on X by the Pat McAfee Show.</p><p><i>“I think Kirk Cousins will eventually be with the Cleveland Browns. If I were the Browns and I was getting Cousins I would draft Travis Hunter at (No. 2)” @danorlovsky7 #PMSLIve</i></p><p>However, Cousins is a 13-year NFL veteran who performed poorly for the Atlanta Falcons in 2024. He finished with 18 touchdown passes and a league-high 15 interceptions.</p><h2><b>Is WR Travis Hunter the right pick for Browns?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Colorado-WR-Travis-Hunter.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Orlovsky said it’s a no-brainer if the Browns manage to get Cousins in a trade that Hunter will <a href="https://x.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1907836068524618238" rel="noopener">come off the board</a> after the Titans select Cam Ward at No. 1, according to the Pat McAfee Show.</p><p>“If Kirk Cousins becomes their starting quarterback, I would take Travis Hunter at (No. 2),” Orlovsky said. “If I was dead set on not taking a quarterback and I was getting Cousins. I’ve got a chance now.”</p><p>But the reason Orlovsky likes this scenario for the Browns is because he thinks there are other pieces that could make the team dangerous in the AFC.</p><p>“(The Browns) still (have) a talented roster,” Orlovsky said. “Stefanski is still a very good coach. Travis Hunter would play wide receiver for me. I think Kirk Cousins … never seemed settled last year. We called his games on Monday Night Football and he never seemed comfortable and never seemed like the right offensive fit.”</p><p>But some <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-believe-kirk-cousins-couldnt-play-physically-01jg7650q46c" rel="noopener">people don’t agree</a> with Orlovsky’s assessment, according to NFL insider James Palmer on his podcast with Bleacher Report via Sports Illustrated. Also, those folks watched Cousins play in Atlanta all season.</p><p>“If you talk to anybody in Atlanta, they will tell you he has just fallen off a cliff, which does happen to some older quarterbacks,” Palmer said. “They believe he can’t play the position physically anymore. He just couldn’t play it physically anymore in the eyes of the Falcons. That bled into some issues in the way he played the position mentally as well. It led into a position where they believed he was unplayable.”</p><p>However, Cousins might be different in Cleveland. That’s according to Jeremy Fowler’s comments on the This is Football podcast via Sports Illustrated.</p><p>“The Kirk Cousins situation in Atlanta could be manna from heaven for Cleveland,” Fowler said. “It’s Russell Wilson all over again. Kirk Cousins can operate Kevin Stefanski’s offense. We’ve seen it in Minnesota; he’s had success.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dan Orlovsky envisions Travis Hunter joining forces with Kirk Cousins, Browns

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-rumors-arch-manning-strategy-debated-rival-execs');   ga('set', 'title', 'Browns rumors: Arch Manning strategy debated by rival execs');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Texas-football-quarterback-Arch-Manning.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Ricardo B. Brazzielli-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Browns rumors: Arch Manning strategy debated by rival execs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T11:59:31-07:00">April 3rd, 11:59am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T11:59:31-07:00">April 3rd, 11:59am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Browns are one of the most intriguing teams in the league as the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/grading-espns-trade-proposal-kirk-cousins-titans-no-1-pick-browns">2025 NFL draft</a> approaches. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/browns-news-owner-jimmy-haslam-cleveland-qb-philosophy">Armed with the No. 2 overall pick</a>, the Browns have several holes on their roster that need to be filled, with the biggest among them being the quarterback position. While Cleveland could opt to select either Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders with this pick, could they potentially wait for Arch Manning to declare for the 2026 NFL draft and target him instead?</p><p>To this point, the only move at quarterback that the Browns have made at quarterback this offseason saw them add Kenny Pickett in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, which is noteworthy since Deshaun Watson is expected to miss the entire 2025 campaign after he re-ruptured his Achilles back in January. Cleveland could target their quarterback of the future now, but if they don’t like their options, it’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6194650/2025/04/02/nfl-free-agency-2025-afc-execs-best-worst/" rel="noopener">possible they could tank</a> for Manning and hope he makes the jump to the NFL in 2026.</p><p>“’It’s such a weak quarterback draft and free-agency class at the position,’ one exec said. ‘Is there a temptation to suck for Arch Manning?'”</p><p>“Not all are convinced the Browns will select a quarterback at No. 2 in the draft. ‘Are they drafting or tanking?’ another exec asked. ‘If you are tanking, then you would be down to one year left on Deshaun (Watson). I’m sure they are like, ‘Hey, Joe Flacco got us to the playoffs and we can do whatever,”” Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote.</p><h2><b>Browns receive warning over potential Arch Manning strategy</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/USATSI_25095092.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Manning got his first real action in college last season with Texas football, completing 61 of his 90 pass attempts for 939 yards and nine touchdowns, while also adding 108 yards and four touchdowns as a rusher. In concept, the idea to tank for Manning makes sense, but as one executive warned, there’s no guarantee that they would land him if they were to tank for him.</p><p>“’You are not guaranteed Arch Manning is going to come out, or that he will agree to go to Cleveland, so my guess is they draft a quarterback this year,’ one of the execs said. ‘If you were tanking, I don’t know why you would give Myles Garrett all that money,’” Sando wrote.</p><p>As of right now, the Browns are being heavily linked to Penn State football defensive end Abdul Carter, so there’s a chance they could pass on a quarterback this year and truly address the position in 2026. What Cleveland will end up doing remains a mystery, but if they don’t end up drafting a quarterback, it’s fair to wonder whether they are waiting until 2026 to target Manning or another passer.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Browns rumors: Arch Manning strategy debated by rival execs

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-myles-garrett-issued-challenge-historic-160-million-contract-extension');   ga('set', 'title', 'Browns’ Myles Garrett issued ‘challenge’ after historic $160 million contract extension');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Browns-defensive-end-Myles-Garrett.jpg"><figcaption>© Nate Ulrich / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Browns’ Myles Garrett issued ‘challenge’ after historic $160 million contract extension</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-03T07:38:22-07:00">April 3rd, 7:38am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-03T07:38:22-07:00">April 3rd, 7:38am</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/grading-myles-garrett-160-million-browns-contract-extension-after-trade-request">Cleveland Browns signed Myles Garrett to a four-year, $160 million extension</a> in March that included $123.5 million in guarantees, but the organization is <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/browns-have-challenged-myles-garrett-to-become-a-real-leader-of-the-team" rel="noopener">still expecting more out of him</a>, specifically from a leadership standpoint, as owner Jimmy Haslam said.</p><p>“What we’ve challenged Myles on is, by his practice habits, by his actions, etcetera, to become a real leader of the team,” Jimmy Haslam said, according to Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “And he has said he’d do that and we’re hopeful that he will be.”</p><p>It has been reported that Garrett is, “well known within the Browns that Garrett is frequently late to the facility… [and] has skipped mandatory team activities on multiple occasions,” according to Williams.</p><p>Despite the concerns with leadership, the Browns wanted to keep the player who is so impactful on the field, despite his trade request. The organization never seriously thought about trading him, and eventually got a long-term deal done with the edge rusher.</p><p>“We had a lot of conversations about it, and there was never serious thought to the trade Myles,” Haslam said, according to Williams. “What we know we have in Myles is a Hall of Famer… These kind of situations are emotional. People say things, and you have to realize it’s not just the player. There’s an agent. There’s an agency who are working that process behind the scenes, and they’re really good at it. They’re really effective at it. And we’re just glad it worked out.”</p><p>The Browns are hoping to eventually build a winner with Garrett in the fold, and the lack of winning was the main reason that he requested a trade in the first place. The next order of business is figuring out who will be the starting quarterback <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/kevin-stefanskis-eye-opening-shedeur-sanders-take-could-be-a-hint-at-browns-nfl-draft-plans">for the Browns in 2025, whether that be a rookie from the draft</a>, or a veteran who is not on the roster yet.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Browns’ Myles Garrett issued ‘challenge’ after historic $160 million contract extension

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/nfl-stories/nfl-rumors-browns-falcons-kirk-cousins-trade-buzz-another-level');   ga('set', 'title', 'NFL rumors: Browns-Falcons Kirk Cousins trade buzz hits another level');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Browns-Falcons-Kirk-Cousins-trade-buzz-hits-another-level.jpg"></figure><h1>NFL rumors: Browns-Falcons Kirk Cousins trade buzz hits another level</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-01T06:11:02-07:00">April 1st, 6:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-01T06:12:59-07:00">April 1st, 6:12am</time><address><a>Tim Crean</a>Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined ClutchPoints in 2022. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL, NBA, soccer, sports media, and more. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie, it is a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York and when he’s not enjoying a round of golf he's probably coaching youth soccer or flag football. You can catch all of his sports-related musings on Twitter at @twcrean.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/browns-trade-proposal-lands-kirk-cousins-falcons-rumors">Clevland Browns-Atlanta Falcons trade for quarterback Kirk Cousins</a> is heating up, and at least one NFL insider believes it is likely to happen before the season starts. Dianna Russini of The Athletic is hearing more buzz that a deal for the embattled veteran QB could happen.</p><p>“I don’t know how far along it is right now. I just know there is enough smoke around this and enough conversations being had that this would not be a surprising move,” Russini said on her Scoop City podcast. “Knowing Kevin Stefanski coached Kirk Cousins when he was in Minnesota, it makes a lot of sense why that would work.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Based on the conversations I've been hearing, it would not be surprising to see Kirk Cousins end up in Cleveland. <a href="https://t.co/bqZ1PZi4AJ">pic.twitter.com/bqZ1PZi4AJ</a></p><p>— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) <a href="https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1907025398552289666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Browns obviously need a quarterback as they navigate the final years of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/browns-news-jimmy-haslem-admits-swing-and-miss-deshaun-watson-trade">spectacular Deshaun Watson trade failure</a>, and, as for Cousins and the Falcons, the team is moving on with second-year signal-caller Michael Penix Jr., so it makes little sense to have a $40 million, 36-year-old quarterback on the roster this season.</p><p>Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has already said at the owners’ meeting that they will “<a href="https://x.com/DMRussini/status/1907038566590411182" rel="noopener">look into a trade</a>” and that “Atlanta doesn’t expect him to show up for voluntary work this spring,” Russini also reported.</p><p>With Watson likely out for the season after an Achilles tendon injury setback, the only QB on the Browns roster heading into the 2025 NFL Draft is Kenny Pickett.</p><p>While this trade does make sense for both sides, there are still several hurdles to clear, specifically around compensation.</p><p>If the Falcons do trade Cousins, they would take a significant cap hit. To make it worth their while, they would have to get some decent draft capital in return. For the Browns, a team that already gave up a ton of draft capital over the last few seasons for Watson, how much will they be willing to part with for a one to two-year rental, at best?</p><p>What would make the deal more enticing to the Falcons is if it happens before the late-April draft so that they could reap some of the rewards immediately.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NFL rumors: Browns-Falcons Kirk Cousins trade buzz hits another level

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/kevin-stefanskis-eye-opening-shedeur-sanders-take-could-be-a-hint-at-browns-nfl-draft-plans');   ga('set', 'title', 'Kevin Stefanski’s eye-opening Shedeur Sanders take could be a hint at Browns NFL Draft plans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Browns-news-Kevin-Stefanskis-eye-opening-Shedeur-Sanders-take-could-be-a-hint-at-NFL-Draft-plans.jpg"></figure><h1>Kevin Stefanski’s eye-opening Shedeur Sanders take could be a hint at Browns NFL Draft plans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-31T18:24:44-07:00">March 31st, 6:24pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-31T18:24:44-07:00">March 31st, 6:24pm</time><address><a href="https://matthew516sports.substack.com/">Douglas Fritz</a>Douglas Fritz has been writing about sports for almost four decades and publishes a Christian sports newsletter and podcast on Substack at Matthew516Sports. He started as a reporter for the student newspaper at East Tennessee State University, worked his way up to Editor-In-Chief, and began his sports writing career at the Johnson City Press daily newspaper while still in college. During 30-plus years at the Press, he covered University of Tennessee football, men's and women's basketball, ETSU athletics, and high school athletics. Among the people he has interviewed are Dale Murphy, Bobby Cox, John Smoltz, and Bruce Smith. He is also a Christian-based screenwriter (five feature-length and one short), book writer (three completed manuscripts and one novel), and songwriter.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Discussing his No. 2 overall pick philosophy, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-owner-jimmy-haslam-cleveland-qb-philosophy">Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam also admitted</a> his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-jimmy-haslem-admits-swing-and-miss-deshaun-watson-trade">whiff on the Deshaun Watson trade</a>. Meanwhile, Kevin Stefanski had an eye-opening Shedeur Sanders take that <a href="https://x.com/DanielOyefusi/status/1906688581449498659" rel="noopener">could be a hint</a> at the Browns’ NFL Draft plans, according to a post on X by Daniel Oyefusi.</p><p><i>Browns HC Kevin Stefanski on QB Shedeur Sanders: “He’s a very, very talented young man but off the field, that is where I’m probably most impressed.”</i></p><p>The Tennessee Titans are widely believed to be moving toward a pick of Miami quarterback Cam Ward in the top spot. That would leave the door open for the Browns to take Sanders, the Colorado product.</p><h2><b>QB Shedeur Sanders on Browns’ radar</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/University-of-Colorado-quarterback-Shedeur-Sanders.jpg"></figure><p>Things haven’t gone the Browns’ way in recent years at the quarterback position. Could Sanders be the answer to that problem?</p><p>Well, Stefanski said there are <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/browns-coach-kevin-stefanski-reveals-what-impresses-him-most-about-shedeur-sanders" rel="noopener">many good things</a> about the young player, according to Sports Illustrated.</p><p>“He’s an extremely talented football player, Stefanski said. “I think the important part as an (evaluator) — you want to talk to the player about plays and how he plays. (And) I think he sees the game really, really well, has been raised the right way. I think they’ve done an outstanding job bringing him along in terms of understanding football.”</p><p>Haslam said the Browns would love to <a href="https://x.com/DanielOyefusi/status/1906766156415029280" rel="noopener">get the right player</a> behind center, according to another post by Oyefusi.</p><p><i>“More Jimmy Haslam on possibly taking a QB with the second pick: I think the message is if the right person is there, we’re going to take him,” Haslam said. “If not, we’ll figure it out for a year or two until we get the right person. We need good football players, there’s good football players in this draft and we got to make sure we get the right ones for us.”</i></p><p>Also, the Browns have looked at Ward. That makes sense because they can be sure what the Titans will do with the top pick. Other quarterbacks on the Browns’ radar are Jaxson Dart and Jalen Milroe. Also, standouts edge rusher Abdul Carter has been in the mix for the No. 2 overall pick.</p><p>Watson currently sits atop the depth chart with Kenny Pickett listed as the backup.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Kevin Stefanski’s eye-opening Shedeur Sanders take could be a hint at Browns NFL Draft plans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-owner-jimmy-haslam-cleveland-qb-philosophy');   ga('set', 'title', 'Browns owner Jimmy Haslam reveals Cleveland’s QB philosophy with No. 2 pick');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Jimmy-Haslam-takes-full-blame-for-Deshaun-Watson-swing-and-miss.jpg"></figure><h1>Browns owner Jimmy Haslam reveals Cleveland’s QB philosophy with No. 2 pick</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-31T12:27:56-07:00">March 31st, 12:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-31T13:45:46-07:00">March 31st, 1:45pm</time><address><a>Preston Byers</a>Preston Byers is an experienced writer and journalist who currently serves as an associate editor for ClutchPoints and as a staff writer at The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle, where he covers sports in the Mahoning Valley. Previously, Preston worked as an associate editor for Dot Esports and a site expert for FanSided's Union and Blue.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Browns’ championship window may very well have closed the moment they traded for Deshaun Watson in March 2022, and now, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is apparently looking past the Watson era.</p><p>While <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-jimmy-haslem-admits-swing-and-miss-deshaun-watson-trade">taking accountability for the ill-fated acquisition</a> and contract and as Watson is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon and a subsequent setback, Haslam laid out the team’s philosophy to the quarterback position.</p><p>“The draft is huge for us,” Haslam told the media. “It would be great if we could get ‘the quarterback,’ but we’re not going to force it. We’re going to be patient, and we’re going to try to accumulate as many really good football players as we can.”</p><p>Haslam did not confirm whether <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-rumors-cleveland-zeroes-in-on-no-2-pick-if-cam-ward-is-unavailable">drafting a quarterback at No. 2 overall</a> was a priority, saying rather that getting “good football players” is the priority.</p><p>During the media session, Haslam admitted he and his wife, Dee, made a mistake with the trade that netted them Watson three years ago.</p><p>“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun,” Jimmy Haslam <a href="https://x.com/DanielOyefusi/status/1906754327819026707" rel="noopener">told the media,</a> via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “We thought we had the quarterback, we didn’t, and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. … (the trade) was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable.”</p><p>Watson, a three-time Pro Bowler with the Houston Texans, arrived to the Browns in a trade that sent back three first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a pair of fourth-round picks. Additionally, the Browns gave Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal, which would nearly immediately prove to be a detriment to the Browns.</p><p>Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 regular season as a result of about two dozen sexual misconduct allegations, and when Watson managed to take the field, he looked like a shell of himself. In six games in 2022, Watson completed a career-low 58.2% of his passes and threw 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.</p><p>While Watson’s stats improved slightly in 2023, Browns fans’ discontent with him grew, and in November, his season ended due to a shoulder injury. Despite losing their starting quarterback and having to start four others at the position over the rest of the season, Cleveland won 11 games and made the playoffs with midseason signing Joe Flacco at the helm.</p><p>Watson reassumed the starting role for the Browns in 2024, but he and the team won just one of the seven games Watson started. The final game Watson started was an Oct. 20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, during which Watson tore his Achilles tendon. In January, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-deshaun-watson-ruptures-achilles-second-time-3-months">Watson reinjured his Achilles tendon</a>, calling into question whether he will ever play another game for the Browns.</p><p>With Watson almost certainly going to miss the entirety of the 2025 season, Cleveland traded backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for former Pittsburgh Steelers starter Kenny Pickett.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam reveals Cleveland’s QB philosophy with No. 2 pick

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/nfl-stories/grading-espns-trade-proposal-micah-parsons-falcons-no-2-pick-cowboys');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grading ESPN’s trade proposal that sends Micah Parsons to Falcons, No. 2 pick to Cowboys');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Grading-ESPNs-3-team-trade-proposal-that-sends-Micah-Parsons-to-Falcons-No-2-pick-to-Cowboys.jpg"></figure><h1>Grading ESPN’s trade proposal that sends Micah Parsons to Falcons, No. 2 pick to Cowboys</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-31T11:37:37-07:00">March 31st, 11:37am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-31T11:37:37-07:00">March 31st, 11:37am</time><address><a>Bailey Bassett</a>Bailey Bassett is a sports writer from Denver, Colorado, covering major sports events and athlete backgrounds at ClutchPoints. He has experience covering and writing on high school, collegiate, and professional sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>A blockbuster offseason NFL trade seems inevitable at this point. There could be <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-gm-andrew-berry-makes-admission-on-potential-titans-trade">movement at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft</a>, and Dallas Cowboys’ star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-news-dallas-feels-about-micah-parsons-contract-talks">Micah Parsons has also heard his name involved in trade rumors</a>. ESPN <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2025/story/_/id/44427621/2025-nfl-mock-draft-all-trades-deals-32-round-1-picks-players-parsons-cousins" rel="noopener">predicted a three-team trade</a> involving the Cowboys, the Atlanta Falcons, and the team with the second overall pick, the Cleveland Browns. Does this deal make sense for all three parties, though? Here are the trade grades for each team involved in this hypothetical deal.</p><h2><b>Three-team trade details</b></h2><p><b>Cowboys get:</b> 1-2 (from Browns), 1-15, 2026 third-round pick (from Falcons)</p><p><b>Browns get:</b> 1-12. 5-149. 2026 fourth-round pick (from Cowboys), 2026 first-round pick (from Falcons)</p><p><b>Falcons get:</b> Edge Micah Parsons</p><h2><b>Cowboys trade grade after dumping Micah Parsons</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Shedeur-Sanders-1.jpg"><figcaption>Joe Rondone-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In this exercise, the Cowboys ship Parsons off to Atlanta. Departing with one of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/ranking-50-best-nfl-players-2024-season">best players in the NFL</a> would be no easy choice, but it might become a necessary one for the Cowboys. The four-time Pro Bowler could be in Defensive Player of the Year conversations for the next decade because he is only 25 years old.</p><p>However, the Cowboys have serious financial issues. CeeDee Lamb is one of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/highest-paid-non-quarterbacks-nfl-history">highest-paid non-quarterbacks in the NFL</a>, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/10-biggest-contracts-nfl-history-according-to-total-value">Dak Prescott’s deal has a higher average annual value</a> than anybody else in the NFL. Parsons will need a megadeal, too, and the Cowboys might not be able to pay him it before he hits free agency in 2026.</p><p>Dallas can’t risk losing him for nothing, so if they could net a huge return for the edge rusher, then it would make a lot of sense to ship him off. There just so happens to be a Parsons replacement at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft. With the number two overall pick the Cowboys receive from the Browns in this proposed trade, Dallas could select Abdul Carter.</p><p>Many consider the sack artist to be the best player in this draft class, and he has often been compared to Parsons for more reasons than just the fact that they both played their collegiate ball at Penn State. The Cowboys could also consider Shedeur Sanders with pick number two. Prescott’s hefty contract could incentivize the team to trade him, and there are ties to the Colorado quarterback because his coach/father, Deion Sanders, played for the Cowboys during his playing days. The elder<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-news-nick-saban-pumps-up-deion-sanders-dallas-rumors"> Sanders was even linked to Dallas</a> as a potential head coach before the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-news-dallas-hires-brian-schottenheimer-head-coach">promoted Brian Schottenheimer to that role</a>.</p><p>On top of that, the Cowboys would also get pick 15 and a future third-rounder from the Falcons. Dallas could add another building block piece with that second first-rounder. Having two potential stars on rookie deals would help Dallas’ cap situation monumentally. Another receiver, such as Tetairoa McMillan, Luther Burden, or Matthew Golden, could make sense with pick 15. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-rumors-dallas-prime-candidate-draft-ashton-jeanty-even-after-rb-addition">Cowboys have also been rumored to be interested in Ashton Jeanty</a>, and Jerry Jones snagging the top running back available would make a lot of sense.</p><p>Overall, there is no guarantee that prospects will come close to reaching the talent/production of Parsons, which makes this deal risky for the Cowboys. Still, this is a big trade haul that gives Dallas more options going forward. For that reason, they deserve a hypothetical trade grade of a B.</p><p><b>Grade: B</b></p><h2><b>Browns trade grade after adding future capital</b></h2><p>In theory, adding two first-round picks while only giving up one isn’t bad. Things are different with the pick the Browns would send off here because it is the second overall selection. The team<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/kenny-pickett-trade-grades-steelers-eagles-deal"> traded for Kenny Pickett</a> this offseason, and they still have Deshaun Watson on the roster. Neither is set up to be the quarterback of the future, and one of Cam Ward or Sanders will be available for the taking with pick two.</p><p>Franchise quarterbacks are not easy to come by, so the Browns would be better off keeping their selection and drafting a rookie signal-caller. If they were to move off of the pick, then this would be a nice haul. The 12th overall pick still holds great value, and the 2026 first-rounder they add could end up being near the top of the draft, too, considering the Falcons are rocking with a young quarterback – Michael Penix Jr. – next season.</p><p>With a fourth-round pick tossed in here, too, the Browns are getting almost as much back for a draft pick as the Cowboys are getting back for Parsons. With all of the quarterback issues they’ve had over the years, though, they just aren’t in the position to pass on one of the top gunslingers.</p><p><b>Grade: C+</b></p><h2><b>Falcons trade grade after adding Micah Parsons</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Micah-Parsons-1.jpg"><figcaption>Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While it would cost the Falcons a pretty penny to trade for Parsons, the star pass rusher would be well worth it. Parsons already has quite the resume. The three-time All-Pro already has 52.5 career sacks, yet he is the age of some players who will be a rookie next season.</p><p>He is one of the best sack artists in the league, but he also does so much more than just pass-rushing. The uber-versatile defender is great against the run, and we’ve even seen him thrive when dropping back into pass coverage. Parsons can line up all over the defensive front and thrive no matter where he is.</p><p>Parsons could be the face of the Falcons for years to come, and he fits Penix’s timeline. The Falcons were in playoff contention for most of last season, and they expect a developmental leap from Penix. Parsons is the player who could get them over the hump. If he does, then their 2026 first-rounder that is being sent to the Cowboys in this deal might be near the end of the round.</p><p><b>Grade: B+</b></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Grading ESPN’s trade proposal that sends Micah Parsons to Falcons, No. 2 pick to Cowboys

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-jimmy-haslem-admits-swing-and-miss-deshaun-watson-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Browns owner Jimmy Haslem admits to ‘swing and miss’ on Deshaun Watson trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Jimmy-Haslem-admits-to-swing-and-miss-on-Deshaun-Watson-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Browns owner Jimmy Haslem admits to ‘swing and miss’ on Deshaun Watson trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-31T11:16:42-07:00">March 31st, 11:16am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-31T11:16:42-07:00">March 31st, 11:16am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Browns</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Browns find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place, thanks in large part to a move for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/browns-news-cleveland-executes-simple-35-8m-deshaun-watson-move">quarterback Deshaun Watson</a> that has blown up in their face in spectacular fashion. After sending a massive trade haul to the Houston Texans and promptly signing Watson to a long-term contract, he has not delivered the goods for his new team. On Monday, owner Jimmy Haslem admitted that he made a mistake trading for Watson.</p><p>Cleveland sent their first-round pick in 2022, 2023, and 2024, along with 2022 and 2024 fourth rounders and a 2023 third rounder to Houston for Watson. Immediately after that deal was finalized, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-news-surprising-deshaun-watson-contract-2025">Watson signed a five-year, $230 million contract</a> with the Browns, securing him as their quarterback of the future. The only problem is that Watson has been horrible for them, with Haslem <a href="https://x.com/MaryKayCabot/status/1906756053192052823" rel="noopener">recently taking blame for the trade</a>.</p><p>“We took a big swing and miss with Deshaun. We thought we had the quarterback, we didn’t and we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him. So we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole. (It) was an entire organization decision and it ends with Dee and I, so hold us accountable,” Haslem said on Monday, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com</p><h2><b>Jimmy Haslem, Browns seem set to move on from Deshaun Watson</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Browns-quarterback-Deshaun-Watson.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Watson has played in just 19 of a possible 51 games for the Browns since getting acquired by them, and even when he’s been on the field, he has not been the same player he was earlier in his career with the Texans. Cleveland is working on recouping the assets they gave up to get Watson, and they don’t have an easy way to get out of his massive contract.</p><p>As a result, the Browns are stuck with him for the time being, and it doesn’t seem like he will be playing at all in 2025 after he re-ruptured his Achilles and underwent surgery back in January. Based on Haslem’s comments, it seems like Watson has played his final down for Cleveland, and they have no choice but to hit the drawing board and try to find a way to build themselves from the ground back up.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Browns owner Jimmy Haslem admits to ‘swing and miss’ on Deshaun Watson trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/nfl-stories/grading-espns-trade-proposal-kirk-cousins-titans-no-1-pick-browns');   ga('set', 'title', 'Grading ESPN’s trade proposal that sends Kirk Cousins to Titans, No. 1 pick to Browns');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GRADING-ESPNS-TRADE-PROPOSAL-THAT-SENDS-KIRK-COUSINS-TO-TITANS-NO.-1-PICK-TO-BROWNS.jpg"></figure><h1>Grading ESPN’s trade proposal that sends Kirk Cousins to Titans, No. 1 pick to Browns</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-31T10:28:17-07:00">March 31st, 10:28am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-31T10:28:17-07:00">March 31st, 10:28am</time><address><a>Bailey Bassett</a>Bailey Bassett is a sports writer from Denver, Colorado, covering major sports events and athlete backgrounds at ClutchPoints. He has experience covering and writing on high school, collegiate, and professional sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2025 NFL offseason has been filled with trade rumors. While looking less and less likely—due to stand-out <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tennessee-titans/titans-news-cam-ward-work-out-amid-no-1-pick-buzz">pre-draft performances by Cam Ward</a>—there is still a chance that the Tennessee Titans will trade the first overall pick. Likewise, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/nfl-rumors-1-sneaky-hint-falcons-could-trade-kirk-cousins">Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons has continuously been thrown around in trade proposals</a>. ESPN <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2025/story/_/id/44427621/2025-nfl-mock-draft-all-trades-deals-32-round-1-picks-players-parsons-cousins" rel="noopener">predicted a trade</a> that included the number one pick and the veteran quarterback, as well as assets belonging to the Cleveland Browns. Is it a fair hypothetical deal for all three teams? Here are the trade grades for each team.</p><h2><b>Hypothetical trade proposal</b></h2><p><b>Titans get:</b> 1-2, 3-67, 2026 second-round pick (from Browns), QB Kirk Cousins (from Falcons, with cash considerations)</p><p><b>Falcons get:</b> 2026 seventh-round pick (from Titans)</p><p><b>Browns get:</b> 1-1, 2026 sixth-round pick (from Titans)</p><h2><b>Trade grade for Titans after adding Kirk Cousins</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/KIRK-COUSINS-1-1.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In this hypothetical trade, the Titans move back only one pick, yet they add the very next draft pick, a starting quarterback in the form of Cousins, and additional draft capital in the process. On the surface, that is pretty good trade value. However, all reports have signaled that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tennessee-titans/titans-rumors-no-1-pick-dilemma-cam-ward-private-workout">Tennessee is becoming infatuated with Ward</a>, and this trade means that they would almost certainly lose out on the chance to draft him. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/cleveland-browns/browns-rumors-cleveland-zeroes-in-on-no-2-pick-if-cam-ward-is-unavailable">Browns would likely select Ward</a> with their new pick at the top of the draft.</p><p>Cousins would be the new signal-caller in Tennessee. The quarterback has tons of experience and production at a high level, but he simply wasn’t the same player post-achilles tear last season with the Falcons. The 36-year-old struggled with mobility inside of the pocket in the first year of a four-year, $180 million deal. He also led the league with 16 interceptions.</p><p>Prior to that, Cousins was playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in 2023 before suffering his injury, and he was a 4,000-yard passer in seven of the eight seasons before that. Considering his age and injury history, it doesn’t seem like Cousins will ever return to past form, though, and that ties the Titans to a huge contract for three more years with this hypothetical trade.</p><p>In theory, the Titans could draft Shedeur Sanders to be the quarterback of the future with the number two pick, but we already saw how the strategy of having a rookie quarterback learning behind Cousins as a bridge option worked out. The Falcons took Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall last season, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-kirk-cousins-breaks-silence-after-benching">they benched Cousins</a> in favor of him late in the season. Now Atlanta is stuck in a bind. That even goes without mentioning that Cousins doesn’t want a young quarterback taking his place again, so he’d likely use his <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/article/browns-kirk-cousins-wont-waive-153717568.html" rel="noopener">no-trade clause</a> if the Titans planned on drafting a quarterback as his heir apparent.</p><p>Overall, this is solid trade value to move back only one draft slot, especially considering the team would add additional second and third-round picks. Cousins’ regressing play and bad contract, combined with missing out on the chance to draft Ward, is what holds back the trade grade here, though. Ward has sky-high potential, and the Titans can’t afford to pass on their potential quarterback of the future.</p><p><b>Grade: C+</b></p><h2><b>Trade grade for Falcons after moving off of Kirk Cousins</b></h2><p>The Falcons only add one draft pick in this hypothetical deal, and it is only a seventh-rounder in 2026. Even so, the team wouldn’t complain at all. Getting off of Cousins’ contract alone is a positive. Plus, this would eliminate the locker room drama of having two signal-callers who think that they should start for their team.</p><p>Penix deserves to have his team’s full support going forward, and trading away Cousins would prove that he does. Atlanta would be unlikely to find anyone of value with the seventh-round pick they add here, but it is better than nothing. Sometimes, accepting a mistake and correcting it is the correct course of action. The Falcons would be smart to cut their losses from the Cousins deal sooner rather than later.</p><p><b>Grade: B+</b></p><h2><b>Trade grade for Browns after adding the number one pick</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CAM-WARD-1-1.jpg"><figcaption>Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>It isn’t quite clear what the Browns will do in the 2025 NFL Draft. They’ve been linked to Sanders as well as defensive players Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter, but recent reports suggest that they might prefer Ward. If that is the case, then trading up and selecting “their guy” is the smart move. Adding a second and third-round pick to a trade involving the number two overall selection would be well worth it if Ward becomes a franchise signal-caller, especially considering the Browns have struggled with quarterback play for most of the 21st century.</p><p>Settling for who most consider to be the second-best quarterback with the second overall pick is risky, especially considering all of Cleveland’s recent quarterback blunders. Going all in on the top quarterback makes too much sense.</p><p>Ward is 6-foot-3, 233 pounds. He threw for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns in a season where he finished third in Heisman voting last season. The Miami product with five years of collegiate experience has Ben Roethlisberger-like potential, and Cleveland would be thrilled if he became anything close to the player that their long-time Pittsburgh Steelers rival was during his playing days.</p><p><b>Grade: A-</b></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024 SEASON STATS
RUSHING YDS	RECEPTIONS	RECEIVING YDS	TOTAL TDS	POSITION RANK
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2024 SEASON STATS
RUSHING YDS	RECEPTIONS	RECEIVING YDS	TOTAL TDS	POSITION RANK
0	0	0	0	-

John
Kelly

2022 Projected vs Actual Pts

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