The Tennesee Titans' love affair with Cam Ward became all too known this past week with just a month to go until draft night. As the team with the first overall pick and as another quarterback needy team, the pairing between them and Ward just feels like a match made in heaven.
This leaves the Cleveland Browns in an awkward spot, especially as it's become clear that Ward is the closest NFL-ready rookie in this draft at quarterback, with Shedeur Sanders trailing behind him.
However, it seems like the Browns aren't necessarily giving up in their pursuit of Ward, despite how strongly the Titans are courting the projected top signal caller pick in the upcoming draft. Even if they miss out on him, their recent moves to meet with him indicate one thing about their draft strategy: the Browns are very serious about taking a quarterback at the top of the draft.
Browns' meeting with Ward indicates team's plan to take quarterback at top of draft
According to multiple reports, confirmed officially by Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns conducted a private workout with Ward in Miami after he participated in his Pro Day down there. The team's contingency included general manager Andrew Berry, head coach Kevin Stefanski, and - notably - owner Jimmy Haslam.
Just as the Titans did, the Browns went all out in their meeting with Ward. It's an interesting strategy considering Tennessee would likely need a Godfather offer to even think about moving off of the first overall pick, so Cleveland's shot at acquiring Ward is basically next to none.
Read more: Titans' public courting of Cam Ward ahead of draft is actually great for Browns
However, if they're pushing this hard for Ward, it could mean that the team is really trying to snag a quarterback early in the draft since it'd mean they're more likely to succeed in Cleveland than a quarterback in need of more development that'd be found in the later rounds.
With the Browns having now struck out on Russell Wilson and having yet to find another quarterback to add to the room alongside Kenny Pickett, it's growing more and more apparent that they're leaning towards drafting their 2025 starter and hoping they can develop into a franchise QB.
Between Ward and Sanders, Cleveland has a chance at that. But with Ward, those chances are very high. It's why they're going all out right now to truly evaluate him, despite there being basically no chance of them taking him in the draft.