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NFL DRAFT FLASHBACK | The four worst draft moves by the Cleveland Browns since 1999

As Browns fans keep their fingers crossed for a successful 2018 NFL Draft, we look back on four instances in which the team misfired in the first round.
Credit: Jason Miller/Getty Images
BEREA, OH - MAY 9: Cleveland Browns draft picks Justin Gilbert #21 and Johnny Manziel #2 are introduced by general manager Ray Farmer (L) and head coach Mike Pettine (R) during a press conference at the Browns training facility on May 9, 2014

The Cleveland Browns are yet again at the center of the football world in the month of April.

The NFL Draft has been dubbed as 'Cleveland's Super Bowl' and frankly, why wouldn't it be? The Browns have made just one playoff appearance since returning to the NFL in 1999. More often than not, the team has been drafting in the Top 5 or Top 10, and in many cases, with multiple first round selections.

That was the case last year. That is the case again in 2018.

As fans dream that the Browns will finally find the right mix of players to get the franchise out of the bottom of the heap in the NFL, we pause for a moment to look back at some of the notable misfires that the team has made in drafts past. Hopefully, these mistakes will not be repeated this weekend.

Here are the four biggest NFL Draft fails made by the Browns since 1999. (Don't worry, my colleague Matt Florjancic is warming up his four biggest draft successes for you!)

1. 2014: 'Wreck this Franchise'

After Browns owner Jimmy Haslam jettisoned his CEO Joe Banner and GM Michael Lombardi when the two were having a power struggle, he promoted Assistant GM Ray Farmer to take over the football operations. Farmer had roughly two months to put a plan into place while trying to get to know new head coach Mike Pettine.

It didn't go well.

The Browns began the draft armed with the No. 4 and No. 26 picks. It was a draft stocked top to bottom with talent at several positions, including quarterback, pass rusher, and wide receiver. (What we didn't know on the night of the first round, but would find out the next day, was that Josh Gordon was set to serve a suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.)

The Browns opted to trade down from the 4th pick, bypassing WRs Sammy Watkins and Mike Evans, as well as LB Khalil Mack, to eventually take Oklahoma St. CB Justin Gilbert at #8. Here's the problem: Pettine never had a chance to meet Gilbert. He got a call after the draft from an Oklahoma St. coach saying that Gilbert was raw and there was a question about his desire to play football at the next level. Those are things that were relayed to me recently by the 'Voice of the Browns," Jimmy Donovan.

That's bad. Then things got worse for the Browns.

Highly touted Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel was falling on the board, most notably getting bypassed by the Dallas Cowboys. The Browns had reportedly spent thousands of dollars in the offseason doing a study on quarterbacks which found that Teddy Bridgewater was the best choice for the team. And he would more than likely be there for the Browns at #26.

Then came the text message heard round the world. According to then-Browns QB coach Dowell Loggains, Manziel texted him saying he wanted to come to Cleveland so they could 'wreck this league' together. Loggains says he showed the text to Farmer, Pettine, and owner Jimmy Haslam, and the decision was made to move up from 26 to 22 to grab Johnny Football.

Credit: Jason Miller/Getty Images
BEREA, OH - MAY 9: Cleveland Browns draft picks Justin Gilbert #21 and Johnny Manziel #2 are introduced by general manager Ray Farmer (L) and head coach Mike Pettine (R) during a press conference at the Browns training facility on May 9, 2014

What followed was two years of massive dysfunction in the Browns organization from which it is still trying to recover from. While the team was playing well in 2014, surging to a 7-4 record, Farmer was sending in-game text messages to coaches urging them to replace starting QB Brian Hoyer with Manziel. Pettine constantly had to answer questions about Manziel's bizarre off-the-field behaviors. The Browns lost the final 5 games of 2014 and 10 of their last 11 in 2015 as they underwent the next of many a regime change.

2. 2011: No Julio for You

Tom Heckert was in his second year as General Manager when the Browns entered the 2011 NFL Draft. Most people felt good about the moves he had made in the previous year, highlighted by the selection of CB Joe Haden in the first round. The Browns had the 6th overall pick in a deep draft and had needs all over the place.

Big names like Cam Newton, Von Miller, and A.J. Green went off the board quickly, but there was no shortage of talent there for the Browns to take at No. 6.

J.J. Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year was there. 5-time Pro Bowler Tyron Smith was also on the board. So was All-Pro Robert Quinn. And there was that Julio Jones fella from Alabama.

Instead, the Browns traded all the way down from 6 to 26 in a trade with Atlanta, then moved up to 21 to take....Phil Taylor?

Taylor played four seasons in Cleveland. In 44 games he had seven sacks, four of them in his rookie year.

Jones was ultimately taken by the Falcons and has had a superb career to this point.

Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 6, 2018; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) runs a first down against Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson (22) in the third quarter in the NFC Wild Card playoff game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 

That one hurts.

3. 2001: 'The nicest person they've ever arrested'

After drafting first overall in 1999 and 2000, the Browns had the third pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, the first for new head coach Butch Davis. Although team president Carmen Policy and director of player personnel Dwight Clark were still in place, Davis essentially had control of the roster.

The Browns had needs all over the board really, with the exception of quarterback. Davis could have gone defense with 7-time Pro Bowler Richard Seymour, or 5-time Pro Bowler Justin Smith. He could have gone offense with Hall of Fame running back LaDanian Tomlinson or eventual Hall of Fame OL Steve Hutchinson.

Instead, he took Florida defensive tackle Gerard Warren. At the time, the pick didn't really raise any red flags. Davis had recruited Warren while he was coaching at Miami. Putting Warren on the same defensive line as Courtney Brown made sense.

But "Big Money," as Warren liked to be called, was a big disappointment. The Browns hoped they found the next Warren Sapp, but he never materialized into that kind of impact player. Off the field, Warren was arrested in Pittsburgh for carrying an unlicensed firearm during his rookie year.

CLEVELAND - NOVEMBER 3: Defensive tackles Gerard Warren #94 and Ryan Kuehl #97 of the Cleveland Browns stand on the field during the NFL game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns Stadium on November 3, 2002 in Cleveland. Getty Images

Policy's response was pure expansion-era Browns: "Police told us Gerard was the nicest person they ever arrested."

4. 2016: A 'Top-20 quarterback' slips through the Browns fingers

When the Browns hired Hue Jackson to be their head coach in 2016, he came with the reputation as a 'quarterback whisperer.' This would be the man who could identify, mold, and develop someone into a franchise QB, something we haven't seen here in a long time.

The Browns had the #2 overall pick in a draft where it was felt that there were two top-level quarterbacks, Cal's Jared Goff and late-bloomer Carson Wentz from North Dakota State. Jackson was able to go to both of their pro days and get an up-close look at them.

Then, two strange things happened:

  • The Browns signed Robert Griffin III to a 2-year, $15 million dollar deal on March 24. RGIII had once been the talk of the NFL after a brilliant rookie season in 2012, but injuries and issues with his coaches cast him from Washington.
  • On April 14, the Rams moved up from No. 15 to No. 1 in a massive trade with the Titans. That positioned Los Angeles to take Goff.

So six days later, the Browns traded out of No. 2 in a deal with Philadelphia. And because analytics told then-VP of football operations Sashi Brown that more trades were a good thing, they moved down from Philly's No. 8 pick to the Titans spot at No. 15.

We'll get back to the quarterbacks in a second. Here are three players who have already gone to the Pro Bowl that the Browns bypassed by their trade downs:

  • RB Ezekiel Elliott
  • DE Joey Bosa
  • S Jalen Ramsey

Why did the Browns not take Wentz when he was just sitting there waiting to come to Cleveland? Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta told ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi (my colleague at the time) the following:

“But in this particular case, we just didn’t feel it was necessarily the right bet to make for us at this time. Again, it comes down to individual evaluation of a player. We will not always be right on those type of things.

“I think the hardest part, and where we have to stay the most disciplined, as much as you want a player, you can’t invent him if he doesn’t exist. In a given year, there may be two or three NFL-ready quarterbacks at the college level. In another year, there literally may be zero. There just may be not be anybody in that year who’s good enough to be a top 20 quarterback in the NFL."

The Browns instead opted to take WR Corey Coleman, who has had issues staying healthy and consistent in his two years in Cleveland. It's far from a sure thing that he will even be on this roster by the time we hit training camp this summer.

I bring all of these stories back up just as a reminder to you when you watch new Browns GM John Dorsey and his team go to work this weekend. If he avoids these kinds of mistakes, we won't have to write these stories much longer.

If not, then please pass the Pepto Bismol.

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