NFL draft winners and losers: Believe it, the Browns are doing things the smart way

We’re living in a world in which the Cleveland Browns are a voice of reason.

There were three colossal trades in the first round of the NFL draft. All of them had a similar theme: One team traded up for a quarterback, paying a ton to do so, and the team trading down got the best of the deal. The Browns took advantage of the madness, getting maximum value to move down from the 12th pick. Then they used their surplus of picks to draft intriguing DeShone Kizer of Notre Dame in the second round. It’s a relatively low-cost option, unlike the quarterback premium a trio of teams paid on Thursday.

[For more on Kizer’s journey, Dan Wetzel wrote about the Browns’ new quarterback.]

The Chicago Bears, who signed Mike Glennon to a $45 million deal less than two months ago, traded a high third-round pick (67th overall), high fourth-round pick (111th overall) and a third-round pick next year to move up one spot and switch picks with the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers clearly didn’t want Mitchell Trubisky, since they made the deal. Yahoo’s Charles Robinson said no other team was calling San Francisco for the second pick. The Bears gave away three valuable picks.

The Kansas City Chiefs paid a lot to get their quarterback. They sent the 27th pick, a third-round pick and next year’s first-round pick to the Buffalo Bills to move up and take Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes. That’s a nice haul for the Bills.

Then the Browns – who everyone figured would get crazy and take a quarterback, maybe even trading up, in a draft class that wasn’t deep at quarterback – had a moment of zen. They were the sellers, not the buyers. At the No. 12 pick, the Browns moved down to No. 25 in a trade with the Houston Texans, adding the Texans’ 2018 first-round pick in the process. The Texans took Clemson’s Deshaun Watson. Houston is no lock to be good this season; that pick could end up being pretty high. The Browns previously scooped up the Texans’ 2018 second-round pick in an ultimately meaningless move to ship off Brock Osweiler. Cleveland is set for next year’s draft too.

The Kizer pick was great for the Browns. He has tremendous physical upside. Cleveland got him at a reasonable draft cost. And if they find a better option later, there’s plenty of value in having Kizer as a high-end backup.

Desperation at quarterback causes teams to make sub-optimal decisions. It’s understandable. It’s hard to win without a decent quarterback, and coaches and general managers don’t keep their jobs long if they don’t win. If Trubisky, Mahomes or Watson become top-five NFL quarterbacks, or at least offer the hope they can get there, nobody will care what those teams paid to get them. The Philadelphia Eagles gave up a ton to get Carson Wentz, and nobody in Philadelphia would argue with it now.

But trading up for a quarterback costs a ton and it is a risky proposition. To wit:

And somehow the Browns avoided falling into that trap. That’s a good sign for a team that too often hasn’t been able to stay out of its own way.

Of course, all the progress the Browns have made with their out-of-the-box front office could unravel if owner Jimmy Haslam doesn’t continue to show patience. And he has never shown patience, and probably can’t be trusted to stay the course if the Browns don’t win enough this season. But it’s clear the Browns’ brass understands the value of working the draft and gathering value by trading down. Whether they’re picking the right players remains to be seen, but they gathered a lot of intriguing players over the first two days. That haul, of course, includes potential game-changing defensive end Myles Garrett, the first pick.

The Browns seem to also know the only way to catch the NFL’s elite is by playing the slow game. They’re not trying to win two or three more games in 2017; they’re trying to win a division title a few years from now. There’s an opportunity cost associated with drafting a quarterback in the top of the first round or trading for someone like Jimmy Garoppolo (though, they probably did try to get Garoppolo from the New England Patriots). Once you invest like that, you’re sinking or swimming with that quarterback. The Jacksonville Jaguars probably know Blake Bortles isn’t the answer, but they’re going to give him a fourth year to turn it around. That’s how it works with a quarterback picked that high. The Browns understand that. They won’t panic at quarterback unless they’re sure, which is smart. Taking Kizer in the second round doesn’t preclude Cleveland from taking a big-time quarterback in next year’s draft. If they end up with uber-prospect Sam Darnold of USC a year from now, they have played this out as perfectly as you possibly can.

Trubisky, Mahomes or Watson might be the next great NFL quarterback. Perhaps the Browns will look back and regret trading back when they had a potential Pro Bowl player on the board for them (a regret they might have now, dealing the pick that became Wentz last year). But to this moment, the Browns should feel pretty good about their plan. Welcome to a world in which the Browns seem to be doing the smart thing. We’ll see if their impetuous owner sees it through.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from the first two days of the draft:

WINNERS

Joe Mixon: This is as good of a result as Mixon could have hoped for.

Mixon’s probable draft slot was debated for weeks leading up to the draft. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Friday night that only about four teams had Mixon on their draft board. The rest wouldn’t even consider taking him. That number seems a bit low, but it’s safe to assume many teams ruled out Mixon, who punched a woman in 2014.

So even though some analysts believed Mixon was the best running back in this draft, going in the second round was probably his best-case scenario. And he landed with the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that has shown extreme tolerance for players who have off-field issues.

Mixon also landed on a team in which he should start right away. Jeremy Hill isn’t good enough to be a lead back. Giovani Bernard tore his ACL late last season. Mixon has the chance to start from Week 1 on.

Whether Mixon deserved a soft landing after what he did is certainly up for debate. But the start to his NFL career wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota: The first and second picks of the 2015 draft were already on a promising path before their teams invested in their supporting casts.

Winston and Mariota might both take a huge step in 2017. Winston could be a sneaky MVP candidate. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made perhaps the best pick of the first two days of the draft, and all they did was stay put and get lucky. Somehow Alabama tight end O.J. Howard fell to them at No. 19 overall. The athletic Howard and big-armed Winston are a perfect match. Add DeSean Jackson to an offense that already had Mike Evans, and good luck defending the Buccaneers this season. A run at 5,000 yards might be possible for Winston.

Mariota has to be happy too. Tennessee had very little around him at receiver. Western Michigan’s Corey Davis, a truly elite receiver prospect, was a bit of a surprise at No. 5, but it should pay off. Those two should be a great tandem for years.

The NFL always needs new star quarterbacks, and Winston and Mariota have been trending in that direction. They should each make a big leap this season.

Philip Rivers: There’s an older quarterback smiling after the first two days of the draft. The Los Angeles Chargers invested heavily and smartly in the supporting cast around Rivers.

In the first round, they took Clemson receiver Mike Williams, who will be a great complement to Keenan Allen, and insurance if Allen’s injury problems continue and keep him off the field. Then the Chargers fixed a line that has needed help for a long time, getting great value on Western Kentucky guard Forrest Lamp in the second round and then taking Indiana guard Dan Feeney in the third round. That should help keep the 35-year-old Rivers healthier.

The Chargers better be good as they move to Los Angeles, because if they’re mediocre or bad nobody in L.A. will even realize they moved there. If the offensive additions help, at least the Chargers should put up points.

John Lynch: Much like the Browns, Lynch didn’t panic in his first draft as the San Francisco 49ers’ general manager. In fact, he played the draft a lot better than you’d expect from a first-time GM who came straight out of the broadcast booth.

The 49ers seemed to run circles around the Bears in the Trubisky trade, getting valuable picks when it seems the Bears could have stayed put at No. 3 and gotten their quarterback anyway. The 49ers got Stanford defensive lineman Solomon Thomas at No. 3. Then they traded up later in the first round and took the spectacularly talented linebacker Reuben Foster at No. 31. Foster has medical and off-field concerns, but he’s clearly a top-10 talent.

The 49ers made a solid third-round pick with Colorado cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (Witherspoon was one of Greg Cosell’s 10 Day 2 and 3 sleepers). The 49ers’ second third-round pick of Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard seems like swinging for a single because he seems to have a low ceiling, but at least the 49ers didn’t freak out and overpay for a quarterback.

Lynch was patient and shrewd in his first draft. That’s a good sign for the rookie executive.

LOSERS

Ryan Pace: Bears fans generally know their stuff. And they don’t seem too happy with Pace, the Bears’ general manager, and his move to get Trubisky.

As stated before, this could all play out marvelously for Chicago. If Trubisky turns out to be a regular Pro Bowler, nobody will remember the extra picks the Bears gave up when it seemed like they were bidding against themselves. But there are significant questions about whether Trubisky can be that guy, after just one year starting at North Carolina.

The Glennon signing adds to the criticism, though it probably shouldn’t. Signing Glennon made sense at the time and it makes sense now. If Glennon is good, the Bears can trade him. If Glennon is great, the Bears can trade Trubisky. If Glennon fails, it’s basically a one-year deal and the Bears move on. Unless you’re worried about the Bears’ bank statement, the money they’re paying Glennon shouldn’t matter to you.

But the unusual nature of signing a quarterback to a huge deal and then trading up for another quarterback puts Pace on the spot. The fact that coach John Fox didn’t even seem to be in the loop on the Trubisky move is just another layer to the story. If this doesn’t work, Pace won’t survive it. He risked his job on Trubisky and his 13 career starts. Bears fans are already putting the pressure on him, and maybe they should be.

Houston Texans: Sense a theme? Again, if Watson turns out to be a star, whatever the Texans gave up for him is fine. But Watson isn’t considered a can’t-miss prospect, and the Texans just gave up a ton for the third quarterback selected in what most analysts considered to be a quarterback-poor draft.

Houston keeps making moves to solve its quarterback problem. The Brock Osweiler contract didn’t work. Trading Osweiler to Cleveland, giving away a second-round pick to do so, seemed to be for Tony Romo. When Romo retired, that trade to ship away a second-round pick with Osweiler didn’t serve any benefit for the 2017 roster. Then the Texans had to give up next year’s first-round pick to get Watson.

If Watson doesn’t work out, giving away the top two picks of the 2018 draft will really batter the franchise. And if he doesn’t work out, coach Bill O’Brien and general manager Rick Smith probably won’t be around much longer, either.

Dalvin Cook: At one point last college football season, it seemed like Cook might compete with Leonard Fournette to be the first running back picked in this draft. Cook went 37 picks after Fournette.

Cook’s loss is the Minnesota Vikings’ gain. The Vikings made a solid pick at No. 41 overall, taking Cook. With all apologies to free-agent signee Latavius Murray, Cook becomes the replacement for legend Adrian Peterson, which is no easy task.

Cook apparently fell in the draft due to some off-field concerns. He also didn’t test well at the combine, which didn’t help. Neither did the league-wide devaluation of running backs. Only a select few prospects are exempt from that.

Cook could end up having a fine career for the Vikings. But it had to be a disappointing 24 hours for him while he waited to get picked.

Russell Wilson: The Seahawks’ last decent chance to significantly upgrade their offensive line has passed. Wilson better be ready to scramble around a lot more this season.

Seattle’s offensive line was awful last season, and the team reacted by using its top pick and a third-round pick on linemen … defensive linemen. The Seahawks did take center Ethan Pocic in the second round, and he could help. The Seahawks need some help.

The Seahawks’ big move to help the line this offseason was signing tackle Luke Joeckel, who was a major bust for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Maybe Joeckel gets better in his second stop, or other players already on the roster improve. If not, the Seahawks are going to have to once again try to win despite a major deficiency on the offensive line.

Jake Butt: Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their bowl games. They were drafted fourth and eighth overall, respectively. Tight end Jake Butt played for Michigan in the Orange Bowl. He tore his ACL.

Had Butt just gotten out of his final college game without injury, he would have probably been a top-75 pick. It’s hard to imagine he would have fallen out of the first three rounds and if the right team really liked him in the predraft process, he could have gotten into the second round. Instead, there were 107 picks through three rounds and Butt wasn’t one of them.

Butt said he doesn’t have any regrets, and that’s understandable. The opportunity to play in a major bowl game is an experience you can’t necessarily put a price on. However, it could serve as a reminder down the road to any prospect with NFL dreams: There can be a significant downside to playing in a bowl game. Fournette and McCaffrey took that risk out of the equation. Others might follow suit, especially if they pay attention to Butt’s draft story.

More NFL draft coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Watch former Cowboys WR Drew Pearson troll booing Eagles fans
• Bulls fans boo new Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky at playoff game
• Bengals take controversial Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon in second round
• Dan Wetzel: Why more players will follow the lead of Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette
• Grading every pick: Who did the best in Round 1?
• Falcons’ pick wins draft night with emotional, expletive-laden interview

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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