Although quarterback Mitchell Trubisky is no longer a member of the Chicago Bears, the 2017 NFL Draft will forever be a talking point when it comes to missed opportunities for Bears GM Ryan Pace.
The decision to not only select Trubisky, but to move up one spot and trade draft assets has been the biggest mark against him during his tenure as general manager. But the decision was almost taken out of his hands completely, thanks to the Cleveland Browns.
Former Browns head coach Hue Jackson joined NFL insider Mike Silver and his daughter Natalie on the Pass it Down podcast to talk about the 2017 NFL Draft. The Browns were picking first overall and wound up with Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett. Jackson explained that he was all-in on Garrett from the start, but said the Browns front office wanted to go in a different direction.
“At the time, there was divide between who should be the first pick,” Jackson said. “I wanted Myles Garrett and I’m an offensive coach. I didn’t think there was a quarterback worth being the first pick in the draft.”
Jackson, who coached the Browns from 2016-2018 and compiled a 3-36-1 record, went on to describe why he was enamored with Garrett. He then explains the front office wanted to select Trubisky instead.
“I was lock and barrel on Myles Garrett,” he said. “But there were others that were lock and barrel on Mitchell Trubisky and me being a quarterback guy, I did not want that. I liked Mitchell, but I didn’t think he was the first pick of the draft at quarterback. There were some rumblings about that and I think everybody knew that. There was truly divide. But the day of the draft, we obviously ended up picking Myles and rightfully so.”
Before the 2017 draft, then-Browns coach @huejack10 was dug in on Myles Garrett as the No. 1 overall pick. The front office wanted Mitchell Trubisky. He took extreme measures to plead his case. From Ep. 45 of the Pass It Down podcast, with @fatnatsilver… pic.twitter.com/Fmkr8NBOJb
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 31, 2021
During the pre-draft process, many experts believed the Browns would wind up taking Garrett, but those rumblings about Trubisky were always prevalent. Even after the draft, insiders believed the Browns were gearing up to trade up for Trubisky after picking Garrett, but the Bears beat them to it.
Interestingly enough, Jackson also said he didn’t find out Garrett was their pick until the day before the draft, which is a similar approach Pace took with the Bears when he reportedly refused to tell his coaching staff who he was selecting until the day of.
Chicago traded up one spot with the San Francisco 49ers to select Trubisky, and the rest is history. But if the Browns front office had their way, the entire landscape of the NFL could be drastically different. Instead, Garrett has become one of the best defensive players in the league for the Browns and Trubisky is now on the Buffalo Bills as a backup after a tumultuous career in Chicago.
Would the Bears have selected another quarterback if Trubisky wound up with the Browns? We’ll never truly know the answer, but Cleveland’s front office almost made us find out.
