Brady Quinn had a lengthy wait before finally hearing his name called on the first day of the 2007 NFL Draft. Quinn slid down the board before the Cleveland Browns traded with the Dallas Cowboys to move up and select Quinn with the 22nd overall pick.
However, Quinn says that he was close to being drafted by the Baltimore Ravens instead.
Appearing on NFL Network, Quinn said right up until the Browns made the trade up to 22, he had been on the phone with multiple members of the Ravens’ staff and was told they were planning on taking him.
“During that pick, I was on the phone with the Baltimore Ravens the entire time,” Quinn said. So, I was talking to (general manager) Ozzie Newsome, coach (Brian) Billick and coach (Rick) Neuheisel because I hadn’t interviewed with them, hadn’t worked out for them or anything.
“All of a sudden with like a minute left I get a call from a 216 area code, which happened to be Cleveland. It was the Browns calling to tell me they were trading up to the 22nd pick.”
Quinn said the Ravens were planning on taking him with the 23rd pick, which may imply a potential deal with the Ravens had ready to go with the Kansas City Chiefs to move up. Instead, the Chiefs selected receiver Dwayne Bowe with the 23rd pick and the Ravens held their place and selected guard Ben Grubbs.
Daniel Jeremiah, who was hosting the program, was a member of the Ravens scouting staff at that time and echoed Quinn’s statements that Baltimore were seriously considering selecting Quinn.
“We were talking to you on the phone and having that discussion about ‘are we going to take Brady Quinn? We can’t believe he’s still on the board,’” Jeremiah said.
Instead, the Ravens waited another year before taking a quarterback in the first round. Baltimore selected Joe Flacco with the 18th overall selection in 2008.