I vehemently disagree with any notion by the Browns to trade up from No. 12 for North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky tonight in the NFL Draft.
If the Browns love Trubisky that much, take him No. 1 overall. Then get down to business and pick the best players available at No. 12, No. 33, No. 52 and thereafter with your remaining picks.
To grab Myles Garrett first and then mortgage picks to climb back into the Top 5 to grab Trubisky would not only show a divided front office and coaching staff -- thus prompting moves to try to satisfy both -- it would be the dumbest thing this franchise has ever done in the draft.
Roll that around in your head. The team that took Tim Couch, Gerard Warren, Barkevious Mingo, Cameron Erving, Johnny Manziel, Justin Gilbert and on and on and on….this would be dumber than all of that.
Why? Because those players demonstrated in college an ability to do what Trubisky did not – play at an elite level against elite competition.
Here’s my plan for Browns success in this draft.
No. 1 pick: It’s a grand slam if you can trade out and assure yourself of Solomon Thomas of Stanford and a first-rounder next year.
Failing that, grab Garrett and hope he translates the size and speed others froth over into actual production.
No. 12: Take the best player available, because you need everything, or DeShaun Watson from Clemson if he’s there.
I’d love O.J. Howard of Alabama, Mike Williams of Clemson or which ever Top 10 defensive player falls into your lap.
As for the Bengals, they might get really lucky and have LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Alabama’s Rueben Foster or Jonathan Allen tumble below projections and be available at No. 9.
I wouldn’t hate Howard, to guard against Tyler Eifert’s injuries, or Williams or Western Michigan’s Corey Davis here, either.
Give Andy Dalton some weapons to get him over the hump in the playoffs.
Keep an eye on Gareon Conley tonight. If the OSU cornerback falls out of the first round because of the rape allegations against him, here’s what he could lose:
Last year, Corey Coleman earned a five-year, $11.6-million contract from the Browns after being taken No. 15 overall.
The 15th pick in Round 2, Heisman winner Derrick Henry, got a four-year, $3-million deal with a $2-million signing bonus.
What happened with Conley and his accuser in a Cleveland hotel is unknown. Whatever it was, if he falls even one round in the draft, it will have cost him millions.