The Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams have each picked No. 1 in the NFL draft seven times, stunning everyone who Googled this while expecting to learn the Cleveland Browns actually ranked first all-time in something. I’m afraid the Browns can’t even win at being terrible.
Which NFL team’s had the most No. 1 draft picks? It’s not Cleveland, except it kind of is
The Browns don’t lead the way, believe it or not, but Cleveland’s still part of this. Let me explain.
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A few things:
- No. 1 picks between 1947 and 1958 were won via lottery. Yep, the NFL used to do that, but only for the first pick. The Colts won one of those in 1955, but they’d had the NFL’s second-worst record anyway.
- The Colts took No. 1 picks from the Saints in 1967 and Falcons in 1990 via trades. (The Colts also immediately traded away 1983 No. 1 pick John Elway.)
- The Rams took 1997’s No. 1 from the Jets.
- 1938’s No. 1 pick went to the Rams, back when they were playing in their original city: Cleveland.
See? Told you Cleveland had a way to claim part of this record.
The Browns pick first in 2017, their only top picks since their back-to-back combo of Tim Couch and Courtney Brown at the turn of the millennium. They have a chance to totally dominate this draft, if they don’t Browns it up, and are expected to pick Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett at the top, along with a QB at some point.
Excluding trades, are are the teams who’ve had more than two No. 1 picks:
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