Everyone believes Jameis Winston is going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the first pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. The question is where Marcus Mariota, the wild card in this draft class in terms of projecting how the first round shakes out, ends up.
Everyone pegs the Eagles and Rams as the most likely teams to make a move for Mariota in the draft, but what about the Cleveland Browns? In her latest mailbag, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer writes she thinks Cleveland will "try to trade up to draft" Mariota or possibly make a move for Sam Bradford from the Eagles in a trade.
This isn't an outlandish idea. In my latest mock draft, I had the Browns moving up to No. 3 overall in order to select Mariota. Plus, the circumstances kind of dictate it's a possibility, if not borderline likely.
Need: This is the easiest part. The Browns have a long and storied history of not being able to find a quarterback to successfully do, well, anything.
On the roster now are Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel, Thaddeus Lewis and Connor Shaw. McCown was cast off by the worst team in the NFL last year and given $5 million to play for Cleveland, which should tell you a lot about the Buccaneers, more about Cleveland and the most about the current quarterback market. Manziel is in rehab (still we think). Thaddeus Lewis is a Duke grad and journeyman. Shaw might be a blue-collar Manziel but you can't bank on him turning around the franchise.
If you were ranking teams in the NFL desperately needing to find a franchise quarterback, the Browns would be among the best.
They have one of the seven-worst quarterback situations in the NFL, as Pete Prisco pointed out on Monday, and therefore are one of the seven most likely teams to trade for Mariota.
Ammunition: Unlike the Bills, who have no first-round picks this year, the Browns are sitting in a good position to chase Mariota with their two first-round picks. No. 12, acquired by being below average at football, and No. 19, acquired by allowing those same Bills to chase up for Sammy Watkins.
Sitting there with a top-10 pick would make moving up to grab Mariota easy. From 12th? It's a little bit tougher. But everything changes if you have multiple first-round picks.
I posited a trade where Cleveland would give the Jaguars No. 12, a 2015 first-round pick and a 2014 third-round pick in exchange for the rights to No. 3 overall.
That's provided Mariota slips past the Titans at No. 2, but all of this kind of hinges on Ken Whisenhunt not wanting the Oregon quarterback. A similar deal could be struck with Tennessee if they're interested in moving down and acquiring additional picks.
Which leads us to the next point.
Willing Partners: Jacksonville is a lock as a potential trading partner. Maybe if Dave Caldwell's in love with Leonard Williams or Dante Fowler he won't move out of No. 3, but if there's an additional first on the table, you have to think he'll fall nine spots in the draft.
Tennessee makes a lot of sense too if Whiz is willing to roll with Zach Mettenberger. The Raiders at No. 4 have plenty of needs but if Mariota is there Reggie McKenzie could move as well if he wants to acquire additional assets.
Once Winston goes one to the Bucs there's going to be an interesting scramble to acquire Mariota.
Competition: Especially when there are multiple teams potentially interested in moving up to get Mariota. The Browns qualify as a suitor. The Redskins and Jets are lurking at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, to nab Mariota if he falls. The Rams are considered a team who could make a play. You absolutely cannot ignore Chip Kelly and the Eagles.
If the Browns want to make a splash in the draft again this year at quarterback, there's an ample opportunity for them. No one else has the ammo and the need that Cleveland does to go firing up the draft board and nab the reigning Heisman winner.