Mel Kiper Jr. has released his latest mock draft, which includes his belief for what the Cleveland Browns will do with the No. 2 overall draft pick.
The Browns are set to pick second behind the Tennessee Titans on April 24th, and there are questions about whether they will be drafting a quarterback. They have added Kenny Pickett this offseason, and they have been linked to a few veteran options as well. But Kiper has them going defense in the first round and taking defensive end Abdul Carter.
“Abdul Carter is a great pass rusher, so is Myles Garrett. It’s nice to have two of them, and in a conference with great quarterbacks. In this defense, they haven’t had that opposite Garrett,” Kiper noted.
Just because he has the Browns taking Carter does not mean that’s who he would take if he were in charge of the team. Kiper says his pick would be former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback, Shedeur Sanders.
“Shedeur Sanders I would take,” Kiper said. “But this is Cleveland. I don’t know what they do, I don’t know how Shedeur feels about Cleveland. … Cleveland with Shedeur Sanders in that division. Keep in mind, arm strength is not his forte. So you got Cleveland weather, Baltimore weather, Pittsburgh weather, Cincinnati weather. The same thing about the Giants with Shedeur as well, but for Cleveland, that’s what I thought, maybe they would go pass-rusher here and maybe they would look at one of those other quarterbacks down the line.”
Kiper noted that there are a few quarterbacks in the next tier of QBs who are bunched together and suggested the Browns might take one of them rather than use the No. 2 pick on a QB.
Cleveland is coming off a 3-14 season. They signed Myles Garrett to a big contract extension this offseason, and they probably have to keep Deshaun Watson for another two seasons because of how much dead cap money he would cost them. A cheap rookie quarterback would probably be best for them rather than a veteran making lots of money.
"Abdul Carter is a great pass rusher, so is Myles Garrett. It's nice to have two of them, and in a conference with great quarterbacks."@MelKiperESPN thinks the Browns should draft Abdul Carter in round one 👀 pic.twitter.com/MywC2k9y8C
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) March 18, 2025
