In most years, this week spanning between wild-card and divisional playoff rounds is the Shrine Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida. It’s the unofficial kickoff of NFL draft season and where most in the Browns media shift the focus from the coach du jour to the draft.
This year is different on a couple of levels. First, the Shrine Bowl is canceled. Players are still named to the teams for posterity sake, but there aren’t any practices or a game. But more importantly, the Browns are still alive in the postseason.
Because of the newfound postseason success, the draft is taking a welcome place on the backburner. But it’s not out of mind completely. For those still looking ahead to April’s draft in Cleveland, the Browns will not be picking in familiar territory.
The earliest the Browns can pick–barring a trade, of course–is at No. 25 overall. Their 11-5 record in the regular season and successful vanquishing of Pittsburgh in the wild-card round means they will pick in the final eight slots of the first round.
If the Browns lose to the Chiefs, they will pick either at No. 25 or No. 26 overall. The slot depends on what happens with the Los Angeles Rams, who finished 10-6 and are playing at Green Bay in the NFC. If the Rams also lose, they’d pick before the Browns.
If Cleveland wins in Kansas City, the earliest the Browns would pick would be No. 29. That’s a tradeoff Browns fans should be very happy to make.
