Browns predicted to make $5 million quarterback decision in trade-up with Vikings

The Cleveland Browns made a move to address their shaky quarterback room earlier this month, reuniting with veteran Joe Flacco on an incentive-laden, one-year deal.

Unless the Browns really want the 40-year-old Flacco to be their Week 1 starter, they should now be looking to double-down at the QB position in the 2025 NFL Draft, which finally arrives with Round 1 this Thursday night.

Cleveland currently holds 10 selections in this draft, including No. 2 overall. The Browns could fortify their quarterback room by making Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders the second overall pick, but that means passing on a potential generational star like Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter.  

Thomas Valentine of Pro Football Focus believes the Browns will pass on a QB with their first-round pick, with an eye on leaping back into the mid-20s if a top prospect at the position remains available. In the case that Sanders slips past the Steelers at No. 21 overall, for example, Valentine predicts the Browns will discuss a trade-up with the draft-pick needy Minnesota Vikings at No. 24.

“Their need at quarterback remains dire,” Valentine wrote, “and though Sanders doesn’t fall into the bracket of a can’t-miss prospect, he has the potential to be a fine NFL starter. Taking Sanders late in the first round as opposed to at No. 33 will cost the Browns around $5 million more, but it will grant them the coveted fifth-year option.”

An extra $5 million is a small price to pay for a potential long-term starter, and the Browns need one with Deshaun Watson recovering from a twice-torn Achilles tendon. Flacco’s a fine short-term option, and the recently-acquired Kenny Pickett is a nice, young backup option, but the chance to land Hunter/Carter and Sanders would be an incredible start to draft weekend for Cleveland.

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Minnesota only holds four selections in this draft, including a 73-pick gap between its first two selections. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah loves to work the phones on draft weekend, and you can bet on the Vikings taking calls at No. 24 with an eye on improving their league-worst draft capital.

In this hypothetical, Minnesota moves back to No. 33, the first pick of the second round, while also landing No. 104 overall (early fourth round) and a 2026 third-round pick from Cleveland.

“The Vikings were aggressive spenders in free agency, targeting the interiors of the offensive and defensive lines as the preferred route for upgrading the roster,” Valentine wrote. “They now stand in a pretty good position, but the possibility of accruing more picks should be even more appealing for the Vikings' front office — especially from a potential trade-down spot at No. 24.”

Moving back nine spots is a little aggressive, but the chance to sit on the clock at No. 33 for basically an entire day is a nice sweetener for this proposed deal. Vikings brass would have time to recalibrate, examine their options, and potentially flip the 33rd pick with an eye on crushing the final two days of the draft.

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