It didn’t take long for the biggest splash of the 2025 NFL Draft to occur. That was when the Cleveland Browns traded the No. 2 overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who proceeded to select the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Travis Hunter.
As the old cliché goes, time will tell who won and who lost the deal. Only that’s not the case for NFL analyst Warren Sharp, who is already willing to call this deal in favor of the Browns.
“Even if the Jaguars win the Super Bowl and the Browns only get the Jaguars #32 pick next year, Cleveland still wins this trade based on value by all measures,” Sharp posted on X.
You hear that, Cleveland? It’s time to raise that banner.
Never mind that we won’t know the Browns’ complete return from a player’s standpoint until this time next year, as the key piece in the deal for Cleveland is Jacksonville’s 2026 first-round pick. And as somebody who has lived through the Browns also trading the rights to Julio Jones away in 2011, I can assure you that it sure won’t feel like a winning trade for Cleveland if Travis Hunter also goes on to enjoy a Hall of Fame-caliber career, let alone one that begins with a Super Bowl-winning season for the Jaguars.
To Sharp’s larger point, the Browns did get quite the haul from the Jaguars in the trade, landing the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft (which Cleveland used on Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham), a 2025 second-round pick (No. 36 overall), a 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 126 overall) and Jacksonville’s 2025 first-round pick. Meanwhile, the Jaguars received the pick that they used to select Hunter, Cleveland’s 2025 fourth-round pick (No. 104 overall), and a 2025 sixth-round pick (No. 200).
According to OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald, the trade marked the largest point differential in the history of something called the Fitzgerald-Spielberger Draft Chart. All that’s left for the Browns to do is take advantage of their massive return, which, based on their history, is something that’s obviously easier said than done.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.