The Browns Are 3-1 and Hold Two First-Rounders — Football’s Strangest Good Problem

The short version: Four weeks into the season, the Cleveland Browns are 3-1, tied for first in the AFC North — and they hold the 21st and 22nd picks in the 2027 NFL Draft. That's their own pick plus the Rams' first-rounder, the centerpiece return from the June blockbuster that sent Myles Garrett to Los Angeles. It's the strangest good problem in football: the better the Browns play, the later both picks land.

This is the win-now paradox made real. Every team wants draft capital. Every team wants to win. The Browns are doing both at once, and each side of the ledger is quietly sabotaging the other.

How the picks got here

The Browns' second first-rounder exists because of the offseason's biggest trade. On June 1, 2026, Cleveland sent edge rusher Myles Garrett — fresh off a 23-sack season that set the single-season record and earned him his second Defensive Player of the Year award in three years — to the Rams. The return: edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick. The Bills were reportedly in it to the end, but they couldn't offer a player like Verse. "Chief among the considerations to make the decision was the inclusion of Jared Verse," GM Andrew Berry said at the time. "We receive a young, elite player at a premium position who will only continue to improve in his third NFL season."

The Rams, meanwhile, were chasing a ring. They unretired Aaron Donald for a run with Garrett, and through four weeks it has mostly worked — they're 2-2 after beating the Eagles in Week 4, when Saquon Barkley left early with an injury. But Garrett is currently sidelined: he had knee surgery and isn't expected back for Week 5. Sean McVay acknowledged the team knew about the knee, thought Garrett could play through it, and learned otherwise. "We had been aware of this, thought it was something he would be able to work through... being out there and playing in a real game, you learn like, 'Hey, maybe that's not the case.'"

Week 4 is what moved the needle

The Browns' own pick sits at No. 22 because they keep winning. They opened the year 3-1, and the Week 4 entry on the ledger is the one fans will remember: a 27-24 Thursday night win over the Steelers, decided by Andre Szmyt's 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left. Add that to a 23-19 win at Tampa Bay in Week 2 and a 21-18 win over Carolina in Week 3, and Cleveland sits tied with the Ravens atop the AFC North.

The Rams' pick is at No. 21 because the Rams keep winning too — 2-2 with a Week 4 win over Philadelphia. The final ordering, published after Monday Night Football wrapped the week, has the two Cleveland picks back-to-back: 21 and 22. One game earlier in the reporting cycle, with a Monday nighter still pending, the Rams' pick was listed as high as 18th. Tiebreakers are cruel like that.

The rest of the board

The top of the 2027 order belongs to the winless: Houston, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, the Chargers, and Miami all sit at 0-4, holding picks one through five. The Jets are the order's other curiosity, holding three first-rounders — their own at No. 6, plus picks from Indianapolis and Dallas at 11 and 12.

The prospect conversation is where this gets spicy. Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith is the consensus generational talent of the class, mocked to Miami at No. 1 by multiple outlets. Texas quarterback Arch Manning has been mocked as high as No. 4 overall — to Cleveland, in one much-argued-over mock that fans of a 3-1 team found, to put it mildly, absurd. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has also drawn first-QB-off-the-board buzz. And Notre Dame's CJ Carr is absent from some first rounds entirely amid questions about whether he returns to school. Analyst Ian Cummings summed up the class with a line that should worry the teams at the top: "There isn't a QB worth taking first overall in the 2027 NFL Draft just yet."

What Week 5 could change

Neither pick is locked, and Sunday could move both. The Browns travel to face the Jets at 1 p.m. ET on CBS (Jets favored by 2.5), and Monday night brings Bills at Rams on ESPN/ABC with the Rams giving 3. A Browns win and a Rams loss would push the Rams' pick earlier — the best of both worlds for Cleveland. The reverse would nudge both picks later.

That's the weekly math for the rest of the season. Root for the Rams to lose, and the trade looks smarter every Monday morning. Root for the Browns to win, and your own pick slides toward the twenties. There is no outcome where both picks get better in the same week. That's the tax on having it both ways.

Previously's Ohio sports desk will keep tracking the Browns' draft position as the season unfolds. Read more local sports and news from every state.