Browns' Rooting Guide for 2025 NFL Draft Implications of Week 16
The Cleveland Browns have a favorable path to a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
The Browns finish the regular season against the Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens.
Week 16's clash with Cincinnati gained more importance for the Bengals in their wild-card hunt after the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
Miami is still alive in the wild-card race and Baltimore has plenty to play for in the AFC North and wild-card races.
The Browns appear set to go 0-3 in those games, which means they need some help from the other three-win teams to clear out the teams in front of them in the projected order.
Cleveland currently has the No. 7 overall pick, the lowest pick among the five teams with 3-11 records.
There are a few winnable spots for three-win teams in Week 16 that would favor the Browns, and even if one of those teams come out on top, Cleveland can improve its draft position going into Week 17.
Panthers over Cardinals
The Carolina Panthers are the most likely three-win team to pick up a Week 16 win.
Carolina's played some of the best football among the teams currently slotted to pick inside the top seven, and it could beat a vulnerable Arizona Cardinals team on Sunday.
Arizona is 1-3 in its last four games and is in a back-against-the-wall situation in the NFC West one game behind the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.
Carolina isn't playing with any pressure, and that showed in close games with the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
None of those games resulted in wins, but the Panthers are close to ending their four-game losing streak, and if they finally end that run, the Browns would benefit because Carolina would leave the group of five three-win teams.
Jaguars over Raiders
The Jacksonville Jaguars have at least been competitive in the last three weeks.
The Jags lost by three to the Houston Texans, fell by a touchdown to the New York Jets and beat the Tennessee Titans out of their Week 12 bye.
Jacksonville has at least shown signs of competitiveness, which is something you can't say about the Las Vegas Raiders.
Las Vegas doesn't look like a team that will win another game, so instead of aimlessly hoping to land a top-two pick, the Browns should root for the Jags to leave the group of three-win teams instead.
Jacksonville might not even be a threat to Cleveland's draft status come Week 18 because it could earn back-to-back wins over Las Vegas and Tennessee in Weeks 16 and 17.
Titans over Colts
The Browns have to hope the Titans quarterback change to Mason Rudolph reaps rewards.
Rudolph will lead the Titans into Lucas Oil Stadium to face an Indianapolis Colts team that must win to stay alive in the AFC wild-card race.
The Titans could benefit from the pressure on the Colts and play the role of spoiler, which would in turn help the Browns' draft stock.
Sunday may be the best chance for the Titans to win a game since they face the Jags, who they already lost to, in Week 17 and face the Houston Texans in Week 18.
So if the Browns want the Titans cleared out of their path, they need to root for them on Sunday to move to four wins and take the Colts out of playoff contention as well.