Draft trade rumor swirl
Trade chatter is heating up ahead of the April 23 NFL Draft — Cleveland is widely expected to pursue a major move and is being linked to Jacksonville as a potential partner. (sportingnews.com) At the same time the 49ers are rumored to be open to moving Mac Jones and the Bills have been connected to veteran LB Shaq Thompson as a possible return, keeping the rumor mill very active. ( )
Cleveland enters the April 23 draft with nine selections: two first-rounders (No. 6 and No. 24), a No. 39 second-round pick and selections at No. 70, No. 107, No. 146, No. 149, No. 206 and No. 248. (nfl.com) The No. 24 pick in Cleveland’s 2026 haul was acquired from Jacksonville in the April 24, 2025 draft-day trade that sent the No. 2 overall to the Jaguars in exchange for No. 5, a 2025 second (No. 36), a 2025 fourth (No. 126) and Jacksonville’s 2026 first-rounder. (clevelandbrowns.com) Under commonly used draft-value tables, the No. 6 pick is worth about 1,600 points and No. 24 about 740 points — a combined 2,340 points that sits between the classic values for a No. 2 and No. 3 overall, meaning Cleveland’s two first-round chips equal the approximate trade value of a top-3 selection on that chart. (nflmockdraftdatabase.com) San Francisco has been reported to be asking an “astronomical” price for Mac Jones in trade discussions and analysts say teams such as the Minnesota Vikings are expected to make “big offers,” while Jones remains under contract on a two-year deal the 49ers signed in March 2025 that runs through the 2026 season. (nbcsportsbayarea.com) Linebacker Shaq Thompson has signaled he’s “trying to” return to Buffalo after the 2025 season; Thompson started six of 12 games for the Bills in 2025 and totaled 56 tackles, one sack, two passes defensed and a forced fumble while entering free-agency conversations this offseason. (sportskeeda.com) Browns reporting indicates GM Andrew Berry plans to gauge trade interest at pre-draft events and the Combine as Cleveland explores trade-down and trade-up scenarios from No. 6, a strategy explicitly tied to their larger pool of draft capital acquired in last year’s moves. (sportingnews.com)
