The Baltimore Ravens won’t be drafting Travis Hunter, but they might end up benefiting from him playing in the AFC North. It was already going to be hard for the Cleveland Browns to not mess up the No. 2 pick in the draft. Then Hunter came along and handed them a challenge they are almost cosmically destined to bungle.
Hunter, the jaw-dropping, two-way phenom who won the Heisman, the Biletnikoff, and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Awards winner out of Colorado, made his expectations for NFL teams crystal clear in an interview with CBS Sports' Garrett Podell. He’s not picking between wide receiver or cornerback. He wants both. Or he’s out.
“It’s never playing football again,” Hunter told Podell. “Because I’ve been doing it my whole life, and I love being on the football field. I feel like I could dominate on each side of the ball, so I really enjoy doing it.”
That’s not a suggestion. That’s an ultimatum. And now, the fate of this generational unicorn rests in the hands of… the Cleveland Browns. Buckle up.
Travis Hunter put the Cleveland Browns on notice
This isn’t exactly the franchise known for handling really anything all that well.
This is the organization that has made head-scratching head-coaching hires (Freddie Kitchens in 2019, anyone?), muffed practically every quarterback pick (Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden, Brady Quinn...), and traded away the only quarterback to win them a playoff game in the 2000s only to replace him with a guy who has just as many on-field issues as he has off-field. It's comedic gold.
And now, they might have to figure out how to manage Hunter, who logged over 1,500 snaps in college—on both sides of the ball—and says it’s that or literal retirement.
Cleveland’s front office has already hinted they see Hunter “primarily as a receiver.” Which is now objectively hilarious. But they might want to read the room. Hunter doesn’t want to be pigeonholed. And if you’re taking him No. 2 overall, you better have a plan that doesn’t include turning him into a glorified gadget guy or overthinking what made him special in the first place.
From Baltimore's point of view? This is must-see TV. Either the Browns try to do right by him, and it surprisingly works out for them, or they try to force the issue and end up with another top-five pick next year. Hunter has made it painfully easy: let him do what he does best—everything—or risk watching him walk. All the Browns have to do is not screw it up.
Which... historically, is not how they usually operate. The only thing funnier would be if they opted not to take him altogether to avoid any potential friction.