In the moments leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, rumors started circulating that the Cleveland Browns were entertaining the idea of trading down from the No. 2 overall pick. With multiple needs to fill and a roster in transition, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Moving back was always on the table in a class without a clear-cut quarterback at the top.
Still, what made this one different was who they’d be passing on.
Cleveland had spent the pre-draft process referring to him as the Shohei Ohtani of football. And for good reason. He’s a legitimate two-way starter, an All-Pro-caliber corner who could also be your WR1. A player with rare instincts, elite movement skills, and the kind of natural feel for the game that doesn’t come around often.
And they let him go.
Whatever logic they used to justify it—more picks, more chances, a long-term view—it doesn’t hold water when the player on the board is this rare. You don’t trade the chance to draft Ohtani in pads. You don’t trade a player who can completely shift your team's identity the moment he walks into the building. There’s no math equation, no draft chart, no board stacking that makes this move defensible. It’s a franchise begging for playmakers, and they passed on one who does it on both sides of the ball. It’s not just short-sighted. It’s flat-out careless.
But what Cleveland fumbled, Jacksonville seized.
New Jaguars general manager James Gladstone didn’t just recognize the opportunity—he acted on it. In his first year in the chair, he walked into the biggest moment of the offseason and made the biggest move of the draft. And it wasn’t reckless. It wasn’t desperate. It was calculated, decisive, and exactly the type of aggressive thinking that separates good front offices from great ones.
Gladstone trusted his eyes. He trusted what the tape showed. What the numbers confirmed. What anyone paying attention could see: Travis Hunter is a generational player. You don’t wait for a player like that to fall to you. You go get him.
The Jaguars didn’t just draft talent—they drafted someone who makes you relevant. Hunter brings star power, attention, and marketability. He elevates the floor and shatters the ceiling. He gives you a player to build around, brand around, and win with. Gladstone saw all of it and didn’t hesitate.
And that’s what sets the tone. That’s what tells your locker room, your fans, and the rest of the league that Jacksonville isn’t playing catch-up anymore. They’re building something real, and they’re doing it with people who move the needle in every way.
Moves like this change franchises. And credit where it’s due—Gladstone just changed his.
