Having rostered two players who could end up top-five picks in the draft, Colorado will feature its most notable pro day in ages. The Buffaloes’ top prospects are set to work out Friday in Boulder, and dozens of high-ranking NFL personnel members will be there.
Although the Titans are sending several key staffers to Boulder, the Browns will do more preparation on Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. Browns brass will have dinner with the Buffaloes’ top duo, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot notes.
[RELATED: Which Team Will Select Hunter In Draft?]
This dinner comes after the Browns hosted both players on “30” visits and conducted meetings and workouts with other quarterbacks. Cleveland has hosted Cam Ward on a “30” visit and gone through a workout with the likely No. 1 overall pick, and the team has worked out Jalen Milroe and Jaxson Dart; a Tyler Shough meeting is also scheduled. But Cleveland holds the No. 2 pick, likely giving — in the expected event the Titans start the draft with Ward — right of first refusal on the Colorado stars.
Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski will be at the dinner, per Cabot, who adds new OC Tommy Rees and veteran QBs coach Bill Musgrave likely will join the top power brokers. The Browns view Hunter as a wide receiver, separating them from the Titans and Giants regarding one of the most interesting prospects in NFL history. Sanders, however, would be the more interesting pick from a big-picture lens.
The Browns are not expected to trade up to No. 1, as a 2-to-1 move has never happened in the NFL draft, but they have been closely connected to Abdul Carter. Cleveland brass hosted the Penn State defensive end on a “30” visit and dined with Carter and his family before the Nittany Lions’ pro day last week. However, some around the league are sensing a smokescreen effort. Two anonymous GMs told the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora they are not sold on a Browns-Carter fit, with one citing Stefanski being absent at the D-end’s dinner as a sign this might not come to fruition.
It would be a risk if the Browns passed on a quarterback at 2, even if Sanders has generated considerable scrutiny about being worthy of such an investment. Sanders, however, is not expected to fall too far if the Browns pass. Opinions vary on the Giants’ interest in Sanders, though a recent report suggested the NFC East team is indeed believed to be in on the two-year Buffaloes starter. If the Browns pass on Sanders, they may face the prospect of needing to trade back into Round 1 to acquire another QB. La Canfora doubles down on Dart being a first-round pick, something that has come up for a bit now.
The Browns hold the Nos. 33, 67 and 94 selections — the third choice coming via the Amari Cooper trade — if they want to assemble a package that could allow them to draft Carter and then vault up for Dart or, potentially, a falling Sanders. With Deshaun Watson almost definitely never taking another snap with the team — especially after Jimmy Haslam made the public admission of the catastrophic blunder his franchise made in trading for the embattled QB — the Browns need a cost-controlled option under center.
The Titans will send GM Mike Borgonzi, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert and DC Dennard Wilson to Colorado, ESPN.com’s Turron Davenport adds. Brian Callahan and team president Chad Brinker will not join them, having already spent extensive time on Hunter and Sanders, whose private workout with Tennessee is slated for April 9. With Ward the most likely player to be Nashville-bound to start the draft, however, the Browns will be tasked with determining if Sanders or Hunter are worth passing on Carter.
it is not a risk to pass on Sanders 80 per cent of 1st round QBs bust
even Ward is a risk he looks like Kenny Picket 2.0
Ward and Kenny Pickett aren’t even remotely similar. Did you just spin a wheel and compare him to the first quarterback it landed on?
Im feeling like Ward and Sanders go 1 and 2. Giants and Patriots winning the lotto by getting to pick Carter/Hunter
Skins should be on speed dial for 33 and 67 for their first round if the browns want dart at their pick
Are you saying Washington should trade pick #29 to CLE for picks #33 and #67 to jump up and grab Dart before someone else jumps in front of them?
How about the #33 and the late 3rd the Browns have at #94 for the #29 pick?
WAS would only be dropping back 4 spots technically and they could trade that #33 pick since it will be the 1st pick of night two.
Listen, I know that passing on generational talent to reach for a QB after trading for a serial molester because you ditched your first overall QB only to watch him thrive elsewhere and he was the best of the many, many QB’s you’ve drafted would be the most Browns thing ever…
But…and this sounds crazy…I think even the Browns can see that drafting the next Tyrod Taylor and bringing the Deion circus would be a disaster, right?
It does seem naive and optimistic as I read it.
Hey don’t compare Tyrod to Ward or Sanders. Tyrod had to wait years to get his shot and played well in Buffalo. He’d have started in Cleveland and LA if not for the injuries.
If the Browns were actually bluffing about their interest in Carter, Stefanski would have absolutely been at their meeting with him.
I might be getting my reports mixed up, but if I remember correctly, Stefanski was with Dart while the rest of the team was with Carter. I would trust Stefanski’s evaluation of a quarterback more than anyone else in their building, so if he wants to take his own time getting to know someone then so be it. If anything, that would make it seem like they’d be interested in Carter (or Hunter) at 2, and then try to trade up from 33 for Dart or another quarterback.
That’s exactly what they SHOULD do.
But will they? Who knows.
If Ward is there, obviously they have to draft him. Otherwise it should be Hunter or Carter.
As much as he’s been disregarded at this point, the thing that intrigues me most about this QB draft is where Milroe ends up.
He’s a ridiculous athlete and once upon a time was considered an elite prospect.
Maybe the right team can turn him into something. Definitely not Cleveland though.