With their loss to the 35-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Cleveland Browns have now officially locked in a top-three pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
They entered their Week 18 matchup holding the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, and they did their job on Saturday afternoon, holding onto that pick with plenty of roster construction to do this offseason. But the job is not done yet either.
The Browns still have a pathway to the first overall pick if a couple of games go their way.
How the Browns can still reach the No. 1 pick
Right now, the New England Patriots hold the first overall pick. However, they are expected to start Drake Maye, who entered the week with some injury question marks. He faces off against the Buffalo Bills, who have nothing to play for in Week 18. This means they are resting their starters.
Let’s see if the promising young quarterback helps the Browns out.
The Tennessee Titans hold the No. 2 overall pick and their pathway to a win is more complicated as the Houston Texans are not expected to rest their starters despite having their seeding already locked in. We’ll see if they change their minds, but the Titans will have a hard time winning this game rotating in Mason Rudolph and Will Levis if the Texans play their starters for 60 minutes.
Potential 2025 NFL draft targets to watch
The quarterbacks will be at the top of the fanbase’s boards entering draft season, but there is a chance (especially in this bad quarterback class) that the team will trade down with a desperate team and get a haul for their pick, especially if they can get a top-two pick. Those quarterbacks are Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Miami’s Cam Ward.
Should the quarterbacks go with the top-two picks and the Browns still sit at pick No. 3, Colorado’s Travis Hunter would fall right into their laps. Other names to consider are Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter, and Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III.