One NFL Team Can Secure Top-3 Pick With Loss This Saturday
01/04/2025 04:51 PM
For around half of the NFL, the 2024 NFL season is over and the only real consequence that Week 18 will have for them is determining draft position. For one NFL team, today's game will determine if Roger Goodell will be calling their name early in the 2025 NFL Draft.
According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the 3-13 Cleveland Browns enter today's game against the Baltimore Ravens holding the No. 3 pick in the draft. Should they lose, they will be locked in to a top-three pick in April, but could climb as high as No. 1 in the draft depending on other results.
"Browns enter today holding the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If they lose today at Baltimore, they will lock in a top-3 pick in the draft, and could potentially even pick as high as No. 1," Schefter wrote.
Browns enter today holding the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If they lose today at Baltimore, they will lock in a top-3 pick in the draft, and could potentially even pick as high as No. 1.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 4, 2025
Assuming that the Browns lose (not hard given that they're 20-point underdogs), they will finish the year with a 3-14 record - the most losses in the league. Only the New England Patriots (3-13) and the Tennessee Titans (3-13) could potentially finish ahead of them in the draft order should they lose to the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans respectively.
An upset win would potentially knock the Browns down the draft order fairly hard though. Six other teams have 12 or 13 losses and rank below them in the draft order as of writing and all six of them are candidates to lose in Week 18.
As a result, a win over the Ravens could drop the Browns out of the top six entirely depending on the results on Sunday.
The Browns have had mixed results with most of their first-round draft picks since the franchise returned in 1999, particularly with top-three picks.
Since 1999 they've picked in the top three eight times, with four of those picks being the No. 1 overall selection. Of those eight, one turned into a Hall of Famer (Joe Thomas), three more made at least one Pro Bowl (Braylon Edwards, Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield), and three rank among the biggest draft busts in league history (Tim Couch, Courtney Brown, Trent Richardson).
Who should the Browns pick in the top three if they wind up with that pick?
Related: Browns Cut 2024 Draft Pick Heading Into Week 3 Game
