The Cleveland Browns' 2025 season has officially come to an end. The Browns finished with a 5-12 record, winning two straight games to end the year. While it was nice to see Cleveland fight at the end of the season, fans hoping for the best possible draft pick were probably bummed to see that happen.
At one point, the Browns were in the running to end up with the second pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. After Sunday's results, Cleveland won't even be picking inside the top five.
Here's the updated draft order, according to Tankathon:
Number | Team | Record | Strength of Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Las Vegas Raiders | 3-14 | .538 |
2 | New York Jets | 3-14 | .552 |
3 | Arizona Cardinals | 3-14 | .571 |
4 | Tennessee Titans | 3-14 | .574 |
5 | New York Giants | 4-13 | .524 |
6 | Cleveland Browns | 5-12 | .486 |
7 | Washington Commanders | 5-12 | .507 |
8 | New Orleans Saints | 6-11 | .495 |
9 | Kansas City Chiefs | 6-11 | .516 |
10 | Cincinnati Bengals | 6-11 | .521 |
Updated draft order pushes Browns into tricky Shedeur Sanders decision
The Browns plummeted to the sixth pick in the draft, which will still get them hopefully a great player to add to their roster. If Cleveland wanted to move on from Shedeur Sanders and start fresh with a rookie quarterback, however, picking sixth will make that tricky.
Sanders was a fifth-round pick by the Browns in last year's draft after being hyped as the second-best quarterback prospect in the draft. Funny enough, Cleveland owned the second pick in the 2025 draft, didn't take Sanders, and then still ended up landing him on Day 3.
He became the starter midway through the year and, while not perfect by any means, did provide a spark for the offense. Cleveland went 3-4 in Sanders' starts and he made a strong case to remain the starting quarterback.
As for this year's draft, Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore (if he declares) will be the top two quarterbacks off the board. Unless the Browns move up, they won't have a shot at drafting either of them. Ty Simpson could be an option for them at pick No. 6, or they could decide to stick with Sanders for at least another. It'll be interesting to see what the Browns decide to do at quarterback in the offseason and it feels like those late-season wins might have made their decision for them.
It's worth noting that the Browns also own the Jaguars' first-round pick, which, as of this writing, would net them the 28th pick in the first round. Perhaps they could go with a quarterback there — like Trinidad Chambliss, perhaps? — as well if they want to focus on other needs with their top-10 selection.