Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota will not lack for suitors in the NFL Draft later this month. Although not the favorites to select him, the Tennessee Titans could draft him with the second overall pick. If not, the St. Louis Rams, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles have been rumored to be interested in trading up for him. The Washington Redskins, New York Jets, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans have all been mentioned as speculative landing spots as well.
Like I said, Mariota will not lack for suitors. But which team in this group has the best shot of actually nabbing the Heisman Trophy winner?
"I never want to label a team as the 'most likely' to trade up because at this time of year, teams do their best to mask their intentions," ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter wrote. "Just think back to last year; no one would have thought the Jaguars were the 'most likely' to draft quarterback Blake Bortles. But it would be easy to label the Cleveland Browns as a team, if not the team, to monitor in relation to Marcus Mariota. It's hard to imagine the Browns don't at least have discussions about what it would take to come up to get Mariota. Few teams have the ammunition they do. For starters, Cleveland has the 12th and 19th overall picks, and it probably would have to throw in at least next year's first-rounder to get up to take Mariota. But teams want to see which players slide, who's available, at what slot, at what value and then make a deal; it's hard to imagine you'll see a pre-draft trade. More often than not, these trades happen while a team is on the clock. The Jets, Bears, Rams could all have an interest in Mariota, but Cleveland is a team to pay attention to here."
If the team were to trade up for Mariota it would likely mean the end for last year's first-round QB Johnny Manziel. Manziel recently finished his time in rehab and is expected to rejoin the Browns soon. However, his off-field issues and on-field disappointment last season may make him expendable should Mariota be headed to Cleveland in the draft.
