Renowned Analyst Delivers Ominous Warning to Browns

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The Cleveland Browns are coming off of a 3-14 campaign, so they obviously have a plethora of needs to address this NFL offseason.
Unfortunately, the Browns were limited in terms of what they were able to do during the first week of free agency thanks to a rough financial situation, but Cleveland still has the NFL Draft to hopefully find some gems.
The Browns own the No. 2 overall pick in the draft next month, and with the team in dire need of a quarterback, the general consensus is that they will take one of Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders.
But there has been speculation that Cleveland could actually avoid selecting a signal-caller in the first round, which already has Bill Simmons of The Ringer on edge.
"There’s been a lot of heartbreak with Cleveland sports these past 60 years, but passing on Sanders at #2 and opting for a Kenny Pickett/injured Deshaun Watson combo would be way up there," Simmons posted on X.
There’s been a lot of heartbreak with Cleveland sports these past 60 years, but passing on Sanders at #2 and opting for a Kenny Pickett/injured Deshaun Watson combo would be way up there.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 16, 2025
The Browns swung a trade to acquire Pickett last week, but the idea of Pickett actually starting under center would absolutely send chills down the spines of Cleveland fans.
Common knowledge dictates that the Browns will just make the easy call and pick a quarterback at No. 2, but what if they aren't entirely enamored with Ward or Sanders? Then what?
Another avenue Cleveland could explore is selecting Travis Hunter with its first-rounder and then potentially taking a quarterback later, but that would obviously be a risky proposition.
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Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.