It took 10 days for Browns to regret the Travis Hunter draft day trade

The Cleveland Browns made a loud splash in the early stages of the 2025 NFL Draft, trading the No. 2 overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for the No. 5 pick, second- and fourth-round picks, and Jacksonville's 2026 first-round pick. That's a nice haul, giving an asset-poor Browns team more bullets in the proverbial chamber. But it also cost them the consensus best prospect in the 2025 rookie class, Travis Hunter.

Instead, the Browns went with Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham at No. 5, an adequate if unsexy move for a team looking to shore up the roster around Myles Garrett. Hunter wound up in Jacksonville, where he figures to command a significant workload on offense and defense as a rare two-way star.

Hunter was the best cornerback in college football and one of the best wide receivers, too. He figures to perform more consistently on defense in the NFL, at least out of the gate, but he's a nutty athlete with a level of speed and coordination tailor-made for the wide receiver position. The Jags desperately need another big weapon for Trevor Lawrence.

The early reports on Hunter in training camp are bound to have Browns fans second-guessing their team's decision.

Travis Hunter shines with 'never seen' abilities at Jaguars training camp

Hunter put on quite a show on Day 10 of Jaguars training camp, doing something Sports Illustrated's John Shipley has "never seen" in seven years on the beat.

"During team drills, Hunter started on offense, put on a white jersey to switch to defense for several plays, and then went right back to offense and into the huddle," Shipley writes. "In the span of five to six plays, he played both sides of the ball and never left the field. In my seven years covering the NFL, I have never seen anything like what Hunter did today. Ever."

While there were pre-draft concerns about how viable Hunter's two-way skill set would be at the NFL level, Jacksonville appears to be embracing his flexibility full-stop. Rather than sporadic use on either side of the line of scrimmage, Hunter is being deployed regularly as both a cornerback and a wide receiver. He played almost every snap at Colorado. If he can get close to that workload in the NFL, his value will be through the roof.

Browns can't feel great about decision to trade away Travis Hunter

While there's ample reason to be confident in Mason Graham's future on the Browns' D-line, there just aren't prospects like Hunter available every summer — especially not with the No. 2 overall pick. The board fell perfectly for Cleveland, a team with pressing needs at both cornerback and wideout, but the Browns opted for long-term maneuverability over immediate gains.

If Cleveland can ace all the picks acquired in the Hunter trade, then this move won't age terribly. But if the Browns fumble their extra assets and Hunter emerges as a genuine superstar in Jacksonville, it will be only the latest in a string of crippling mistakes from the Cleveland front office.

The Browns are also starting Shedeur Sanders in Week 1 of the preseason. If there's a real investment in the rookie quarterback, pairing him with his longtime favorite target would've been a wise decision. Hunter probably gets more out of a Trevor Lawrence partnership, but few college teammates are as connected as Sanders and Hunter.

Oh, what could have been.