Buffalo -- of all teams -- did the Chiefs a favor by hand-delivering them Texas speedster Xavier Worthy in a trade late in the first round. The Bills, who also need a receiver, traded a second time with Carolina, who took receiver Xavier Legette.
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from NFL draft Round 1 …
1. As expected, seven receivers were taken in the first round. That still leaves the Browns a good chance of having a highly-graded receiver available to them at their No. 54 pick in the second round. The receivers still on the board are: Adonai Mitchell of Texas, Ladd McConkey of Georgia, Keon Coleman of Florida State, Roman Wilson of Michigan, Malachi Corley of Western Kentucky, Troy Franklin of Oregon (our mocked pick), Ja’Lynn Polk of Washington, Devontez Walker of North Carolina and Jermaine Burton of Alabama. Also available are Michigan linebacker Junior Colson, Ohio State defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr., LSU defensive tackle Maason Smith and Florida State defensive tackle Braden Fiske.
2. The first shocker involved a quarterback, but not the one anyone expected and not a team anyone speculated on taking a quarterback. With the eighth pick of the draft, Atlanta selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix. Two factors made this pick hard to believe. One, the Falcons rolled out the Brink’s truck in March to sign free agent QB Kirk Cousins for $180 million over four years. Cousins is guaranteed $90 million through 2025, and another $10 million comes due in March of 2026. Two, Penix is over-aged – he’ll be 24 in May – and will be 26 when Cousins’ guarantees dry up. Prior to the draft, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah reported that Falcons owner Arthur Blank was mindful of a succession plan at quarterback. Cousins will be 36 in August and is coming off a torn Achilles. But even Blank was stunned by the pick. A video of an awkward conversation between Blank and GM Terry Fontenot explaining the pick quickly went viral.
3. Penix was the fourth quarterback taken, following Caleb Williams first to Chicago, Jayden Daniels second to Washington, and Drake Maye third to New England. J.J. McCarthy went to Minnesota after a trade-up from No. 11 to No. 10, and then Bo Nix was taken by Denver at No. 12. Six quarterbacks in the top 12 picks. That’s a record.
4. The run on QBs set off an offensive trend for 14 consecutive picks. The first defensive player was taken at No. 15 by the Colts. They selected UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu. It’s all about offense in the NFL.
5. Two teams that might have been interested in a trade for Greg Newsome were able to fill their needs at cornerback late in the first round. The run on offensive players pushed Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell to the Eagles at No. 22. Then the Lions traded up from No. 29 to No. 24 to take Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold. Both Philadelphia and Detroit had been speculated as teams poking around Newsome’s availability. The Browns have until May 2 to decide on Newsome’s fifth-year option, which would guarantee him about $13.4 million in 2025.
6. A clean sweep of offensive linemen by the Browns’ division rivals ultimately was not in the cards. Cincinnati took Georgia offensive tackle Amarius Mims at No. 18 and Pittsburgh chose Washington tackle Troy Faunuto at No. 20. But with nine offensive linemen off the board, Baltimore used the 30th pick on Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins.
7. Buffalo did something strange by trading with Kansas City and allowing the Chiefs to move up from No. 32 to No. 28 and take 40-yard dash Combine record-holder Xavier Worthy of Texas. The trade gained Buffalo 38 spots from Round 4 to Round 3 and 27 spots in Round 7. What’s strange is the Bills hand-delivered the fastest receiver in the draft to their AFC rival that has blocked the Bills from reaching the Super Bowl. Come to think of it, the Bills are the team that facilitated the Chiefs acquiring Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft. The Bills traded the 10th pick that year to the Chiefs, who were able to draft Mahomes despite starting the night buried at No. 27.