How the Jets' trade deadline deals affect the Browns' Draft strategy

Sunday's matchup at MetLife Stadium just became much more interesting thanks to a pair of shocking trades

Browns general manager Andrew Berry watches practice during rookie minicamp May 9, 2025, in Berea. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The New York Jets (1-7) weren’t shy about showing their cards this Tuesday, as they became the biggest players on the trade market in the hours leading up to the league deadline.

With a showdown against the Cleveland Browns (2-6) on the horizon, two of the league’s worst teams might be jockeying for draft position with an eye on the quarterbacks eligible for next April.

While Cleveland kept mostly to themselves today, the Jets unloaded their two best defensive players in cornerback Sauce Gardner, who will now call Indianapolis home, and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, who’s headed to Dallas. That’s a combined five Pro Bowl nods and three first-team All-Pro selections from a couple of players aged 25 and 27, respectively. All this, while NewYork retained its top two offensive weapons, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall.

In return, the Jets picked up two first round picks from the Colts, along with wideout AD Mitchell, while the deal with the Cowboys netted them a first rounder, a second rounder, and throwaway defensive tackle Mazi Smith to complete the package.

Counting New York’s original picks for the next two years, the Jets will have two first-rounders and two-second rounders in 2026, along with three first-rounders and one second-rounder in 2027. While that in itself does not guarantee much of anything for the Florham Park club, it does seriously affect the Browns 2026 NFL Draft outlook.

Why?

Well, because out of the teams selecting in the first six slots at the start of the first round, only the Jets at N° 3 and Browns at N° 6 are sure to be putting passers under the microscope in hopes of finding their franchise quarterback.

The other teams within the projected Top-6 -- if the current order stands -- might look elsewhere at other top positions. The Titans (currently slotted at N° 1) and Giants (N° 5) picked up first-round quarterbacks in 2025, and Miami is still very much an uncertainty, having signed Tua Tagovailoa to a very costly extension one year ago. Even the Saints, who picked up Tyler Shough in the second round this year, could decide to give him one more year to prove he can become a long-term answer.

That leaves the Jets and Browns in what could be a two-team race for the top quarterback prospect coming out this year, whomever it may be. And, with the Jets amassing so much draft capital today -- much to the chagrin of their defensive unit -- they would be in a perfect spot to package the required picks that a jump to the first overall spot might cost.

This would leave Cleveland -- who’s history of trading down in the draft slightly better than its history of trading up (see Brady Quinn, Johnny Manziel or Trent Richardson, to this effect) -- hoping that there is more than one franchise quarterback waiting to be selected in the 2026 NFL Draft; that the Jets won’t pick him, if they’re actually is just one to be had; and that another team won’t just swoop in from below and steal any other available prospects before they get called to the podium.

Remember, the Raiders and Cardinals are also teams that would be selecting within the Top-10 if the season ended today, that could be looking at quarterbacks in the first round.

All of this makes next Sunday’s showdown between the Browns and Jets at MetLife Stadium so much more important for the future of both franchises at the most important position in sports. A win by either team could substantially leave them out of range of the top-tier prospects, as the head-to-head criterion is used to help determine draft order.

If you look at the current strength of schedule for the remaining games, the Browns face the fifth easiest calendar for the rest of the season (.468). And, there’s still enough football to be played, where the current picking order for the top of the first-round could change dramatically.

Should we go ahead and just call next Sunday's game the Fernando Mendoza/LaNorris Sellers/Dante Moore sweepstakes Bowl?

Of course, nobody here will openly advocate for tanking games, even if the Jets deals today seem to point in that direction. There are too many jobs at stake in any organization for a team to lose on purpose.

But, remember the old saying: “Winning cures everything”? Well in this case, winning on Sunday might do just the opposite of that.

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