We've reached the most brutal point of the NFL offseason for fans — the summer break. The Cleveland Browns have embarked on their well-deserved off-time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Modern-day players train year-round. No one said they couldn't work out on the beach in Cancun, the Bahamas, or some other world-away oasis.
This leaves fans counting down the days until the whole shebang starts up again.
In recent days, Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport took on the cheerless task of re-drafting the 2025 draft just one year in. Naturally, no one is happy with one of these exercises. We all have our own perception of players, and we will unintentionally inflate the value of the ones our favorite team actually got. With this fully in mind, Browns fans can be happy with the current reality rather than the one that played out in Davenport's re-do.
One year later, the Browns' trade-down still looks like the right move
After the top quarterback, Cam Ward, is stolen from Cleveland just like in real life, Davenport has the Browns nabbing New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart. To begin with, let's remember that Cleveland traded down from this selection with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Therefore, it's not only Jaxson Dart vs. Mason Graham, but Graham along with running backs Qunshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson, and 2026 first-round wide receiver KC Concepcion.
It's obviously much too premature to declare either team the winner for sure. Heck, some trades will never be seen unanimously one way or the other. In any case, it does a disservice to the Browns faithful to treat Dart — and Tyler Shough, whom Davenport tabs as going No. 3 — like bona fide franchise quarterbacks.
Both players had up-and-down rookie years. To start with Dart, in 12 starts he had more concussion checks (five) than wins on the year (four). What's more, his touted three-to-one TD-to-INT ratio loses its punch when you find it was 15 and five. He had his moments to be sure, but there are very real red flags in his game. Pro Football Reference has him tied with the league's sixth-worst on target percentage.
On his worst day, this is a relatively inaccurate quarterback with a propensity for medical scares and reckless play. Exciting has its limits, and some might be getting flashbacks of Baker Mayfield, whose own competitive fire directly contributed to his flaming out in Cleveland.
There were rumors that Andrew Berry was considering a trade-up for Dart last year. What initially seemed like an enormous gaffe after Dart's exciting debut against the Eagles cratered back to Earth as the season wore on. The jury's still out on Jaxson Dart.
As for Shough — my choice if the Browns had to take a QB in the re-draft — he did a lot more with a lot less out in New Orleans. To begin with, he won. Now here's a guy who took over a 1–7 football team and finished the season with a winning 5–4 record.
Yes, I know, I know. Wins are not a QB stat. But in some ways, they kind of are. It's funny how the best quarterbacks always seem to win more than they lose. The last guy whose horrific starting record was dismissed worked out so well for the Cleveland Browns, remember? That trauma's not going away any time soon, either. Shough was also more accurate with a 76.5% on-target percentage, and was able to use his legs as a weapon while keeping himself available.
Even with that, neither of these signal-callers boasts the kind of upside you'd expect from the second overall pick. You can go back and forth forever, but for my money — and knowing what we know now regarding Myles Garrett — if the Browns were staying put at No. 2, the pick should've been Abdul Carter.
Carter was miscast in New York as the Giants tried to force a three-EDGE-rusher lineup onto the field. He nonetheless played well, getting pressure on 15.1% of his rush snaps, a feat that ranked 42nd out of 159 qualifiers with more than 40 rushes, according to Sports Info Solutions.
The decision to get Mason Graham (and the three others who came in the trade-down) is still easy to defend. Graham showed flashes as a pass rusher and run stopper, finishing the season ranked 31st out of 134 defensive tackles by Pro Football Focus. While throwing quarterbacks into the equation complicates matters, the Browns didn't miss the forest for the trees.
The 2027 NFL Draft quarterback class is shaping up to have upwards of a half-dozen players viewed as better prospects than Dart or Shough. Instead of settling, the Browns are biding their time. They're about to cash in that ticket at the perfect time, and fans hope this is the one that hits.
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