5 draft day trade scenarios featuring the Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are one of the most interesting teams in the 2025 draft.

General manager Andrew Berry isn’t afraid to wheel and deal on draft weekend. He has a full cupboard of picks for the first time in three years. He has five picks between the sixth and seventh rounds to act as sweeteners. Berry will be working the phones over draft weekend. While he seems dead set on taking Travis Hunter with the second pick, there could be an offer so big his calculator can’t say no to. 

The Browns are likely candidates to trade up into the first round to secure a fifth-year option on a quarterback. The Browns have a lot of assets, including the 33rd pick, to afford a trade up.  Although looking at the crop of quarterbacks projected to go in the first round, Shedeur Sanders, Jalen Milroe, Jaxson Dart, and Tyler Shough, there’s little need for the team option. Most teams know how good their quarterback is by the end of their third year, when they must decide the to exercise the option. If they are still unsure, there is little benefit to giving them a fully guaranteed one-year extension at above market price. I think it’s unlikely that the analytically driven Browns will trade up for that assumed benefit. However, all bets are off once the Owner is in the war room. 

In my opinion, the likeliest trade scenario is the Browns trading pick 33 for more picks inside the top 100. The 33rd pick has become a hotbed of activity since the draft split over three days. Someone big always slips out of the first round, and teams have an entire day to discuss trading into that spot and securing “Their Guy”. Berry stated he’ll use the full shot clock on Thursday night, and he’ll apply the same strategy to Friday. 

Below are the five likeliest trade scenarios the Browns could do on the first two nights of the draft. Thank you to Joseph Jefe for the trade calculator. His calculator includes the most recognized trade charts in the NFL. It’s a fantastic resource that should be used by fans on draft night. 

Trading Down from Two

The Browns seem dead set on selecting Travis Hunter, largely because the second pick in the draft isn’t that expensive without a quarterback tax. Another hurdle to a trade is approximating where the future first round pick, the linchpin of every top-five trade deal, will land. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders are rumored to be interested in the second pick, but if either team gets Hunter, their offenses could become deadly and lead them to the playoffs. In which case, their 2026 first round pick becomes far less valuable.

I think the Browns would prefer trading the pick to the Raiders, betting on the AFC West’s competitiveness, instead of trading with the Jaguars and the variance of the AFC South. The trade above is a reasonable trade the Browns could expect from the Raiders. The Browns get the sixth, 68th, and a presumably early first-round pick next year. They don’t get a decisive victory on the traditional trade charts, but they do in the player value charts. The extra 2026 first-round pick would be a great asset if the team needs to trade up for a quarterback that year. However, the Browns would likely reject this proposal. I think they’d need to get blown off their feet with multiple day two picks, including next year’s, and a first-round pick next year to go through with any trade. Even then, I’d still feel iffy about trading the chance to select either Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter.

The Browns trade up to rob the Steelers of a franchise quarterback

If the Cleveland Browns need a quarterback on Thursday night, they’ll need to get ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Our greatest rival, currently, has a quarterback room as bad as ours. While the Browns managed to lock down our 40-year-old quarterback bachelor, the Steelers are getting ghosted on the Pat McAfee Show by their number one option, Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers are focused on the draft right now. They’re reportedly more interested in Dart than Sanders. 

The Broncos pick ahead of the Steelers, and would be the perfect trading partner. In this scenario, the Browns trade picks 33, 65, 216, and a third-round pick next year for picks 20 and 122. The Browns would lose their first two picks on day two but save their core assets in 2026. The team would also add a fourth-round pick, giving them three picks between 94 and 122. The team would still have a lot of options within the fringe top-100 prospects. The Browns win the trade on the data-driven trade chart, but it looks like a loss on paper.  

The Browns trade up ahead of the Rams to grab their quarterback

There are not a lot of NFL teams that could use their first-round pick on a quarterback. The NFL is populated with a lot of new faces at the position. The Browns, Saints, and Steelers are the most quarterback-needy teams in the NFL. However, there is a perennial playoff contender who needs a quarterback of the future. This offseason, the Rams recommitted to Matthew Stafford after the two discussed a possible trade. The 37-year-old quarterback might not be in the Rams’ long-term plans. The team could use the draft to select its future franchise quarterback. 

The Browns may want to jump ahead of the Rams if they believe that’s the case. The Texans are directly ahead of the Rams. The Browns and Texans are familiar trade partners with a good working history. In this scenario, the Browns would give up picks 33, 94, and 200 for pick 25. The Browns have a good chance of protecting their best trade assets, the 64th and 2026 picks, if they jump up only a handful of picks. The Texans would gain a top-100 pick to package into a future deal. According to the charts, the Browns narrowly win the trade. However, the Texans could expect to win the trade on the field.

The Browns get a fifth-year option on their franchise quarterback

The Browns trading up one spot with the Philadelphia Eagles is the ideal scenario if the team wants to secure a fifth-year option on a quarterback. The Browns and Eagles have a healthy friendship and a good working relationship. The teams are analytically driven franchises that understand how to value draft picks. 

In this scenario, the Browns package two of their sixth-round picks with the 33rd pick for the last pick in the first round. The Browns can keep their top-100 picks and shed some of their sixth-round picks. The Eagles would still get the guy they wanted, but on a cheaper contract while adding draft assets. The Eagles win the trade according to every trade calculator, but it would feel like they’re giving the Browns a sweetheart deal.  

The Browns trade down from 33

I think the most likely trade scenario is the Browns trading down from the 33rd pick with a team desperate to move up to get a perceived first-round talent. The 49ers are an interesting trade partner. They love to be aggressive during the draft, making sure they get their guys. The 49ers have the assets to offer the Browns a good package. In this scenario, they’re jumping up for receiver Luther Burden III, and offer the Browns to move back ten spots. While the Browns would want a 2026 day-two pick, they’re unlikely to get one from a small jump into the second round. Instead, the team walks away with picks 43, 100, and 147 for picks 33 and 200. The Browns would have five picks within the top 100, and they’d make a massive jump from the end of the sixth round into the top of the fifth. The Browns would have plenty of opportunities to find starting-caliber players with those picks. The Browns win this trade pretty handily across the charts.

This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: 5 trades Browns could make on Draft Day