Jaguars' Curiously Dinged For Blockbuster Move

We won't know the true winner of the Jacksonville Jaguars/Cleveland Browns draft trade for Travis Hunter for another few years, but some lines are already being drawn in the sand.

In a list of draft winners and losers from The Athletic, the Hunter trade was the primary focus for where the Jaguars and Browns each ended up landing.

The Jaguars were slotted as draft losers, while the Browns were ranked as winners.

"Well, if the Browns were the biggest winners, almost solely based on the return from their trade with the Jaguars, then it’s no surprise to see Jacksonville down here," The Athletic said.

"Sure, Travis Hunter might be a unicorn, and maybe he blossoms into a generational player, but this is a steep price to pay for someone who’s never played an NFL snap, especially one who doesn’t play quarterback. The Jaguars tried to make up for it a bit, however, by making additional trades to recoup some draft capital."

It feels as if the Jaguars are being a bit harshly punished here. You can make the argument that any and every trade up is a bad idea since no college player has played an NFL snap. What the Jaguars did do was land the No. 1 player on the consensus board with the No. 2 pick, creating rare plus-consensus board value with the selection.

As for the Browns side of things, the Browns were seen as winners of the draft due to the Hunter trade. It is hard to think of the Browns as big winners since they passed on an elite talent and have used some of the corresponding picks on a small defensive tackle and two running backs, but that is where the Browns fall here.

"The Browns made the biggest trade of the draft and came away from it huge winners, according to our formula. How big? The value added in that trade, which included securing an extra second-round pick and Jacksonville’s 2026 first-rounder, is equal to the 10th pick," The Athletic said.

"Now, reaching for quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the third round while drafting Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round knocked down their value in terms of the actual players drafted. But the deal with Jacksonville, paired with drafting Mason Graham with the No. 5 pick, has Cleveland firmly in the top spot."