Insider predicts Browns will make bold draft move that impacts QB class, Giants
from Zac Wassink, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
Before the NFL Scouting Combine wrapped up on Sunday, Tony Grossi, Cleveland Browns reporter for ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand, hinted that the Browns hoped the New York Giants would trade for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft from the Tennessee Titans. This move would allow the Giants to select Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, while the Browns could target Miami quarterback Cam Ward.
In his post-combine mock draft published Monday night, Grossi predicted that the Browns will jump to the No. 1 spot to ensure that Ward joins Cleveland on April 24.
Specifically, Grossi forecasted that the Browns would be willing to give the Titans the second overall and No. 67 picks of the 2025 draft and a 2026 third-round pick for the top pick Cleveland presumably would spend on Ward.
While NFL personnel often look to generate smokescreens via comments made during the combine, it’s clear that most individuals in the league view Ward as a better overall prospect than Sanders. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Ward as the overall betting favorite at -230 odds to be the draft’s first selection. To compare, Sanders was fourth among the betting favorites at +1200 odds to be drafted first overall.
The Titans, Browns and Giants all need a long-term answer at quarterback, and some thought as recently as last week that Big Blue could stay at pick No. 3 and take Sanders if Ward went to either Tennessee or Cleveland. However, NFL insider Connor Hughes of SNY and Jordan Reid of ESPN are among those who think, following the combine, that the Giants are eager to move up to choice No. 1 so they can grab Ward.
“An exchange of first-round picks and two threes is likely enough to get it done, according to one general manager (unaffiliated with the Titans and Giants),” Hughes said on Sunday about New York possibly leapfrogging Cleveland in the draft order. “The Giants might need to part with a second- and third-round pick if Tennessee can create a bidding war.”
Meanwhile, Reid wrote in a mock draft published on Tuesday that the Giants could acquire the first pick from the Titans in return for selections Nos. 3 and 34 this year and a 2026 third-round choice.
In short, it sounds like the Giants and Browns could soon find themselves in the bidding war for Ward’s services that Hughes mentioned on the combine’s final day.