Five Times the Cleveland Browns Traded out of Selecting a Superstar in the NFL Draft

During the 2025 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns traded out of the second overall pick in order to obtain an extra first rounder this year. While the jury is still out on Travis Hunter -- taken by the Jaguars with that pick -- and Cleveland hasn’t exercised their extra pick yet, the reward for stepping down three spots outweighed the risk.

However, trading down hasn’t always worked out great for the Browns, as they’ve lost the chance to select some franchise-changing talents throughout the years.

Here’s a look at five times Cleveland lost out on a superstar by trading out of the pick since 1999.

Julio Jones, sixth overall, 2011

Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert were running things, and Jones and A.J. Green were overwhelmingly considered the best two wideouts available. The Browns were coming off a 5-11 season with Chansi Stuckey and his 40 catches as the team’s top wide receiver.

Instead of betting on Jones -- a seven-time Pro Bowler, two-time first team All-Pro who’s also part of the Hall of Fame’s 2010s team -- the Browns went all the way down to 27th, before coming back up to 21 after another deal with the Chiefs, taking defensive tackle Phil Taylor.

Atlanta paid handsomely to move up those 21 spots, handing over two firsts (2011, 2012), one second (2011) and two fourths (2011, 2012). In addition to Taylor, those picks turned into Greg Little, Owen Marecic, Brandon Weeden and a final selection part of a trade up for Trent Richardson in 2012. Cleveland also paid a third-rounder to the Chiefs for moving from 27th to 21st.

Deshaun Watson, 12th overall, 2017

Instead of colossally overpaying in 2022 as part of one of the worst trades in the history of the NFL, Cleveland could have just drafted Watson outright in 2017. This pick had originally been paid to the Browns a year before (we’ll get to that one) by Philadelphia.

But the Browns really just said ‘Nah, we’re good with Kevin Hogan, Cody Kessler and DeShone Kizer’, leading to a tragic 0-16 season.

With Sashi Brown and Hue Jackson calling the shots, Cleveland took Jabrill Peppers 25th overall that year and John Dorsey came in next year, investing the fourth overall pick in Denzel Ward, the two first-rounders paid by Houston. We all know what happened five years later with Watson.

This draft was actually a double whammy, as Cleveland traded out of a third-rounder which would eventually become Trey Hendrickson.

Jonathan Taylor, 41st overall, 2020

Cleveland missed out on three-time Pro Bowler and one-time first-team All-Pro Taylor in 2020 by trading down three spots and selecting Grant Delpit at 44th, and center Nick Harris in the fifth round with the ransom paid for the 41st selection.

Another double-whammy, Cleveland’s third-rounder that year was dealt to the Saints, who picked up Zack Baun at 74. This Andrew Berry trade netted Jordan Elliott in 2020 and Anthony Schwartz in 2021.

Carson Wentz, second overall, 2016

The year before Watson, Cleveland could have picked up a quarterback second overall, but Sashi Brown surrendered this pick and a fourth-rounder in exchange for two firsts (2016, 2017), a second (2018), and a third and a fourth from 2016.

That ‘16 first rounder from Philly (8th overall) was dealt again to Tennessee, along with a fifth, for a first and third (2016), and a second (2017). The Titans picked up Jack Conklin here, making it another double miss for the Browns.

All those picks were then invested in Corey Coleman (15th) and DeShone Kizer (52nd, 2017), and more trades down the road, including the pick that eventually became Watson for Houston.

Jeremy Maclin, 2009, 19th overall

George Kokinis and Eric Mangini were at the wheel this year, with the team trading down several times from 5th overall to 17th, to 19th, to 21st. The players selected in those spots were Mark Sanchez (Jets), Josh Freeman (Buccaneers) and Maclin (Eagles), with Cleveland eventually landing on Alex Mack.

With the selections picked up through all those trades, the Browns added picks that would become David Veikune, Coye Francies and James Davis, plus a slew of veterans that included Kenyon Coleman, Brett Ratliff and Abram Elam.

Missed the cut:

Jim Kelly, 14th overall, 1983

I know we stated we'd only go back to '99, but this one was brutal, with Cleveland surrendering this first-rounder for veteran linebacker Tom Cousineau, who had been playing in the CFL since 1979 when he was the first overall pick by Buffalo.

Cousineau played four years in Cleveland, made second-team All-Pro once, and that was it, while Kelly eventually became a Hall of Fame quarterback after a three-year stint in the USFL.

Other notables: Jahmyr Gibbs, Nico Collins, Brian Thomas Jr., Dexter Lawrence, Benardrick McKinney, Anthony Barr