Rumor: Cleveland Browns to trade back into Round 1 for QB?

The Cleveland Browns are reportedly on the prowl for a trade partner to move into the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

The Cleveland Browns currently are in possession of the No. 8 overall selection in tonight’s first round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

The Browns may not have a tight hold on that pick, however, as it has been widely speculated that they will look to move even further down in the first round, possibly to select someone like Mississippi wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.

But with just a few hours until the start of the draft, the Browns are now being linked to a potential trade back into the first round to possibly select a quarterback.

If the Browns were to pull off such a trade they should have a pretty decent selection of the second-tier of quarterbacks, a group that includes Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, Michigan State’s Connor Cook and Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg, among others.

As to just where the Browns may move up to is a mystery, although it may be worth keeping an eye on the Seattle Seahawks at No. 26. Seattle is reportedly willing to trade down and with the Browns being able to offer the No. 32 pick in a trade, dropping just six spots may be appealing to the Seahawks. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Seahawks move down, either, as Seahawks general manager John Schneider has worked a trade-down deal in each of the last three drafts.

The Browns have been down this route before in the draft in trying to find a quarterback late in the first round with disappointing results. And as ESPN’s Bill Barnwell points out, it is a strategy that hasn’t fared well since 2000:

"Even teams trading into/down to that range at the bottom of the first round haven’t fared well. Sure, the Vikings came away with Teddy Bridgewater with the last pick of the first round in 2014, but consider the other quarterbacks who have been drafted by quarterback-needy teams from picks 22-32 since 2000: Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden, Tim Tebow, Brady Quinn, Jason Campbell, J.P. Losman, Rex Grossman and Patrick Ramsey. Rodgers is the lone success story, and he obviously entered a much different situation than those other players, with a long-term waiting game ahead of him."

The one bright side is that the Houston Texans hold the No. 22 pick – the slot where the Browns made fateful mistakes on Quinn, Weeden and Manziel – and there have been no reports linking the Browns and the Texans in trade talks.

The Browns do have the draft capital to make a deal work if there is a player they want and a willing trade partner, which should make an interesting first round even more so.