The Cleveland Browns cannot pass on the best player available in the NFL draft this April, unless it's because they're taking one of two quarterbacks in the draft worth selecting as potential starters in 2025.
With Cam Ward likely ending up the No. 1 overall pick for the Tennessee Titans, that leaves the Browns with just Shedeur Sanders as their option at quarterback in the first round of the draft. They still have this offseason to sign a different quarterback or even trade for one, but Sanders would be a fine option for them as someone to develop into a starter.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski has done wonders for quarterbacks like Joe Flacco and Kirk Cousins, and it's fun to imagine what he could do with a young signal caller like Sanders, who has been compared to Cousins in terms of his ceiling in the league. So, of course, ESPN's latest mock draft has the Browns avoiding Sanders.
ESPN's latest mock draft offers terrible reasoning for Cleveland avoiding Sanders
In former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum's latest mock draft offering for ESPN, he has the Browns selecting Travis Hunter with their second overall pick and the New York Giants - the third-most quarterback needy team within the top-3 teams in the draft order - taking Sanders instead.
Tannenbaum reasons that because the Browns' defense, specifically their secondary, took such a dip in effectiveness in 2024, Hunter makes sense as their pick at No. 2 overall. He can also slot in at wide receiver during red zone or third down trips, adding another fun layer to their offense. Of course, this could only work if the team has a quarterback.
Then, Tannenbaum slates the Giants to take Sanders instead. His logic?
"While the Giants have other massive weaknesses -- including the offensive line -- they can't pass on Sanders. And that still rings true after Friday's signing of Jameis Winston, who is at best a stopgap starter for New York. Sanders is incredibly tough, can make all the throws, processes reads quickly in the pocket and delivers accurate balls. He lacks high-end mobility but still shows good pocket movement traits," wrote Tannenbaum.
Here's the kicker - he then says he feels like Sanders can become a top-12 quarterback in the entire NFL, eventually.
Read more: NFL insider gives one big reason why Travis Hunter could be good fit for Browns
Why in the world would an equally quarterback-needy team like the Browns, who don't have a starting-caliber quarterback like the Giants now do, pass on Sanders in this mock draft if Tannenbaum feels like he'll develop into such a star?
It just doesn't add up. Sure, the Browns' secondary is in need of some help for Denzel Ward, but that's something they can attain through the draft and still in free agency.
Cleveland has four legitimate options with their pick in the first round: taking Abdul Carter, taking Hunter, taking Sanders, or trading down for a win-now player or quarterback and hoping they can land someone like Jalen Milroe or Jaxson Dart as a developing quarterback on the roster.
Which, by the way, couldn't happen in Tannenbaum's mock draft, as he mocks Dart to the Los Angeles Rams in Round 1. Yikes.
Taking Hunter in this mock is fine, but explaining that Sanders would be a franchise-changing quarterback that Cleveland's passed up on just makes no sense.