Draft buzz still centered on #2 pick … In fact, it may very well be the story of the next 8 days as most of the chatter related to the 2016 draft focuses on the 2nd pick overall and whether Cleveland will ultimately deal the pick. Certainly, it appears that the Browns want to move the pick as they have reportedly been actively calling other teams with top ten selections to gauge their interest in the pick. That’s a little unusual in that teams looking to deal a high pick normally wait for other teams to call them. And clearly there are teams that are interested. Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reported last night that Philadelphia has an offer on the table to move up from the 2nd pick overall in which the Eagles would send Cleveland the 8th pick this year, along with both of their third rounders this year and their 1st and 3rd rounders in 2017. What isn’t entirely clear is whether Cleveland is simply bound and determined to move out of the #2 spot no matter who is available – that is which of QBs Carson Wentz or Jared Goff Los Angeles does not select with the first pick – or whether any deal would be conditional upon which of those two the Rams do ultimately select. The buzz around the league is that the Browns actually prefer Goff, although that doesn’t necessarily make a ton of sense. Indeed, if the Browns do in fact prefer Goff, then it doesn’t really compute that they would have ramped up efforts to trade out of the #2 pick almost immediately after LA acquired the top pick, if as most people suspect, the Rams moved up to take Wentz. Of course, the Rams aren’t helping all the speculation by keeping their plans pretty close to the vest. They had Wentz in for a visit over the past couple of days and will be meeting with Goff today and tomorrow. And while most of the speculation about potential competition for the Eagles for a trade up to the #2 pick focuses on Dallas and San Francisco, Buffalo may also be in the mix, although they have a long way to go all the way from the 19th pick. Buffalo is also reportedly exploring trade options involving Memphis QB Paxton Lynch who will almost assuredly more within their range on the 28th. It is interesting that Lynch also has visits this week with Chicago and Baltimore, neither of which is thought to be seriously looking for a QB in this year’s opening round.
