Browns reportedly offer 1st-round picks to Titans for No. 2 pick
The Browns reportedly extended an offer to the Titans in an effort to land Marcus Mariota in Cleveland.
The Cleveland Browns offered the No. 12 and 19 picks to the Tennessee Titans so the team could jump to the No. 2 selection in the 2015 NFL Draft and take Oregon's Marcus Mariota, according to ESPN's Pat McManamon.
While ESPN's Paul Kuharsky refutes that a trade offer was even made, those picks might not be enough to make a deal happen, and Cleveland may need to offer even more to grab the second selection. The Titans also want a second-round pick and Cleveland's 2016 first-round pick, according to John Middlekauff of Comcast SportsNet.
If a deal between the two teams is reached, it would be the second first-round quarterback for the Browns in as many years after the team took Johnny Manziel with the No. 22 pick in the 2014 draft. That selection also came after a trade, when the Browns moved up four spots from pick No. 26 to take Manziel. Earlier in last year's draft, the Browns traded down from the No. 4 pick to No. 9 before jumping back up one spot to take cornerback Justin Gilbert at No. 8.
That totaled three trades in the first round last year, and the Browns could keep that trend going by moving up for Mariota, although it’s unlikely any trade would be reached before Thursday night.
Mariota won the Heisman Trophy in 2014 by racking up 42 passing touchdowns and just four interceptions in addition to 15 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. He is expected to be the second quarterback selected after Florida State’s Jameis Winston goes off the board with the No. 1 pick.
In his rookie season, Manziel started just two games and threw 35 passes with no touchdowns and two interceptions. After the end of the season, the former Heisman Trophy winner checked into rehab, where he stayed for more than two months.
The Browns also signed Josh McCown to a three-year deal in free agency worth $14 million. McCown previously played for the Chicago Bears before signing a two-year, $10 million deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, but he was released after one season with the team.
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