The Cleveland Browns shouldn’t be afraid to trade down or up in the NFL Draft

The Cleveland Browns have been linked to many trade rumors in recent days but should the team consider moving up and down in the NFL Draft?

Whether it’s Atlanta, Denver or someone else, the Cleveland Browns have been linked to trading down in the NFL Draft. Obviously the fans don’t like the team moving, at all, from the number 10 spot in the NFL Draft. For fans against moving back, they feel that it’s always been to the detriment of the team. It hasn’t, mind you, at least not all the time. Sure, once or twice in recent memory it’s gone sideways but the team also acquired a future Hall of Famer (Alex Mack) by trading down.

For fans against moving up, they’ll say that there isn’t a player the team needs to move up for, nor is it worth giving up a second or even a first-round draft selection in the process. That doesn’t mean the team won’t. How many times has the team made moves to get players that the Browns were never associated with in pre-draft reports? In both the 2007 and 2014 NFL Drafts, the Browns traded up to get Brady Quinn and Johnny Manziel. So the idea that the Browns trade up either to get closer to the top of the draft or trade back into the first round seems rather possible.

Now, the Browns aren’t moving up to get Joe Borrow or even Tua Tongaviola but what about a CeeDee Lamb or Isaiah Simmons? What if it’s to get Andrew Thomas or Tristan Wirfs? The Browns may not feel confident waiting for the guy they want to fall to them. They may even want to get a Lamb or Simmons type of player, someone who could be an instant game-changer. Now, Lamb or any other wide receiver simply makes no sense in the first round unless the Odell Beckham trade rumors stop being rumors and start becoming reality. Yet, Simmons, Wirfs or Thomas? If the Browns feel they can’t move on in the draft without them, then you can expect they’ll consider moving up to get them.

This might also work for them on the back end of the first round. As our own Nick Dudukovich wrote about, the Browns are becoming more and more enamored with Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland. If the Browns are truly in love with Cleveland, they may not want to wait to see if he makes it to them in the second round and could move up to guarantee they get him; regardless of where the Browns trade to or if they trade at all.

If the team isn’t sold on any of the top-four tackles, and I don’t blame them if they aren’t, then moving back and filling a hole in the secondary while keeping an eye on Cleveland would be another route. The team is more than likely going to make moves this year. They always do, and frankly, it seems like every team does make moves to some degree in the draft.

Will it be a move up or down the first round of the draft? Will it be a meaningless seventh-round pick swap? No one knows. Not until it happens, and it will happen. Just when in the draft, where round-wise and who the team gets is unknown right now.

The Browns are probably going to move, the only question is; should they? Let us know in the comment section if you want the Browns to move, which direction, and who do you want them to target.