The No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft was traded last week, and now the No. 2 pick is on the auction block as well.
NFL Network’s Jeff Darlington reported Tuesday that Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown has “initiated calls” to gauge interest in the No. 2 pick. Darlington said that “nothing is imminent,” but it’s clear that the Browns are shopping the pick and keeping their options open.
The Rams aren’t saying which player they’ll select at No. 1 and will meet with quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Jared Goff in Los Angeles this week. The Rams are picking one of those two, and if they pick the one the Browns thought they’d get when the Titans owned the top pick, a trade down makes sense.
The Browns open the extra minicamp they get because they have a new head coach on Tuesday. Robert Griffin III is the team’s starting quarterback until further notice.
For reasons beyond the Browns giving Griffin a chance to revive his career, the team might have been looking at positions besides quarterback and/or a trade down even before the Rams-Titans swap. The Browns have a new coach and a new front office again, and adding picks via a trade down could make sense because the roster has significant holes.
As for which teams might be anxious to take Brown’s calls, the Eagles have done too much homework on the quarterback class to not have at least some level of interest, while the Cowboys worked out Goff last weekend. A significant roadblock to a potential Browns-Eagles deal would be that the Eagles don’t have a second-round pick.