Insiders address if Browns would make bold draft trade for QB

While the Cleveland Browns are widely expected to make Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter the second pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, some previously suggested the Browns could trade their 2026 first-round draft choice to get back into the first round of this year's player-selection process for a quarterback. 

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Zac Jackson of The Athletic are among Browns reporters who believe the club won't complete such a blockbuster transaction.

"I wouldn’t rule out the Browns moving back into the first round for a quarterback," Cabot wrote for an article posted on Sunday, "but I don’t see them using their 2026 first-round pick to do it. They just got back into the first round after a three-year hiatus from the Deshaun Watson trade, and I don’t think they’d be willing to mortgage their future for a quarterback in this class. I think if they liked one that much, they’d take him at No. 2. I could see them moving up, but perhaps only from 33 to the back end of the first round, a deal that wouldn’t require next year’s 1."

Numerous insiders are now convinced Cleveland will take Hunter over Shedeur Sanders with the draft's second pick, but the Browns could look to move back into the first round for the Colorado quarterback if a team such as the Pittsburgh Steelers (pick No. 21) makes Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart the second signal-caller drafted this spring. 

Most reporters believe the Tennessee Titans will select Miami's Cam Ward, the consensus top quarterback in this year's class, with the draft's first choice. 

"Maybe the Browns will trade back into the first round for a quarterback," Jackson said for an article published on Monday morning, "but that would likely involve them only moving up a handful of spots. The team’s 2026 first-round pick is too valuable to give up, despite the number of other teams that would love to have it."

Alabama's Jalen Milroe reportedly "is the quarterback the Browns covet most in the draft." Jackson thinks Cleveland will be able to get Milroe, who played under Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees in college, with the draft's 33rd overall selection. Doing so would allow Milroe, who is likely a project for the future, to work on improving his passing mechanics as a backup while either Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett starts for the organization this fall.