The Browns traded down, then up, then up again during the first round of last year’s draft, and if the right opportunity arises, the team likely won’t hesitate to move up again this year. Head coach Mike Pettine told reporters today, including Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link), that the Browns showed last year they were willing to move, and he’s sure GM Ray Farmer‘s phone will ring again this time around.
Field Yates of ESPN.com (Insider-only link) agrees that the Browns, armed with a pair of first-round picks, are in a good spot to trade up if they want to, listing them among the teams most likely to make a deal during the first round next Thursday.
We’ve got a few more Browns-related notes to pass along, so let’s round them up, with all links going to Ulrich’s Twitter account…
- ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported earlier this month that the Browns have “90%” moved on from Johnny Manziel in their minds, but Pettine said today that the young signal-caller is still very much in the team’s plans. Pettine quipped that the report was “90% inaccurate,” adding that it could be filed in the “ridiculous category.”
- When asked if he was willing to trade up in the draft for Oregon star Marcus Mariota, Pettine said, “Sure. Why not?” with a smile, as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets.
- Pettine said that there were a handful of guys absent from workouts, but they all reached out to him and he was well aware of it ahead of time, Ulrich tweets.
- The head coach is optimistic that something will get worked out with free safety Tashaun Gipson, Ulrich tweets. “[You] never want the business side to affect the football side. We’re very optimistic we’ll get that worked out,” the coach said. Gipson has yet to report to Cleveland’s voluntary program. The safety received a second-round RFA tender from the Browns in March and was less-than-thrilled about that.
Zach Links contributed to this post.