BEREA: The Browns have suitors for the second overall pick in the NFL Draft and might not be able to resist the temptation to trade down, but they’d also be comfortable taking a player there.
Whether they move down will be among the hottest topics leading up to the April 28-30 draft.
“Obviously, there’s some talented players in this draft,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said Tuesday after the team conducted its first practice of voluntary minicamp under his guidance. “We’re still in our process and still figuring out our direction.”
Jackson directed trade questions to head of football operations Sashi Brown, who has reportedly been working the phones. According to NFL Network, Brown initiated calls to other executives with top-10 picks to gauge interest in the No. 2 choice. Nothing is believed to be imminent.
Fox Sports reported the Philadelphia Eagles would give the Browns first- and third-round picks this year and next year to move up to No. 2. The Eagles own the No. 8 choice. In the third round, they have the Nos. 77 and 79 selections.
There has been rampant speculation about the Browns’ desire to move down from No. 2 since the Los Angeles Rams leapfrogged them last week by trading up from No. 15 to No. 1 in a historic deal with the Tennessee Titans.
“Those are the things that are going to happen,” Jackson said of the Rams’ power play. “I don’t think I reacted one way or the other because so many things are probably going to happen before the draft. We just kind of stay true to our process and keep evaluating and keep working.”
Still, the move means the Browns will no longer have a shot to select the first quarterback this year because the Rams will take one. The Titans were never a threat to draft a quarterback at No. 1 because they secured the position by picking Marcus Mariota at No. 2 last year.
Rams could swipe
Now the Rams will choose California’s Jared Goff or North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz first overall. They could easily swipe the quarterback the Browns covet.
“We can’t stop it,” Jackson said. “... If I know Sashi, he’s prepared and ready for anything that can happen over the next couple of weeks. That’s just the way you have to be and the way you have to play it because we don’t get to truly control your own destiny.”
Although there are conflicting reports about which top-rated quarterback the Rams intend to nab, the prevailing national thought is it’s Goff.
“You really don’t know until they make the pick,” Jackson said. “Hopefully as it gets closer, maybe somebody will say that’s who they’re taking, but that’s not our concern.”
Logic says if the Browns’ favorite quarterback goes to the Rams at No. 1, trading down from No. 2 would become more likely. Rumblings have surfaced recently about the Browns preferring Goff.
Jackson sidestepped a question about whether the Browns have reached a consensus on their top-rated quarterback. He said they’ve spent enough time with the prospects to make a decision.
“We’ve done enough to have an opinion when the time comes to make one,” he said. “There are good players out there, and there are very worthy candidates. ... We’re getting closer, but we’re still a little ways away from having to really nail it all down.”
Trading down could appeal to the Browns because, in theory, they would accumulate picks to fill more holes on their unimpressive roster.
Regime into analytics
Analytics favors moving down to gather additional assets, or picks, and the new regime is committed to analytics more than any other NFL team.
On the other hand, the Browns won’t win consistently until they find a bona fide franchise quarterback. Passing on whichever quarterback falls to them at No. 2 — whether it’s Goff or Wentz — would decrease the odds they’ll acquire a long-term solution in this year’s draft.
Jackson has guaranteed the team will draft a quarterback at some point, but it also signed reclamation-project Robert Griffin III last month. Griffin’s two-year, $15 million contract suggests the Browns deem him a bridge starter.
“He’s a very talented player, and he’ll continue to get better every day,” Jackson said. “But I don’t think that’s going to determine what we decide to do in this draft.”
Before the Rams’ blockbuster was announced, Brown told SiriusXM NFL Radio last week other teams had already expressed interest in the No. 2 pick. Its value has seemingly increased since then.
Logical trade partners
In addition to the Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys (No. 4 overall) and San Francisco 49ers (No. 7) would be logical trade partners with interest in a quarterback. The New York Jets (No. 20) and Denver Broncos (No. 31) also have been mentioned as candidates.
Should the Browns deal the No. 2 pick or take a seemingly less likely route by selecting a non-quarterback there, they could target a second-tier quarterback later. Memphis’ Paxton Lynch and Michigan State’s Connor Cook, a Walsh Jesuit High School graduate, are widely considered the draft’s third- and fourth-best quarterbacks, respectively.
The Browns own the first pick of the second round (No. 32 overall). Most draft analysts believe Lynch won’t last until then, so he would likely need to be pursued in a trade scenario.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.