While many expected the Arizona Cardinals to be the first team to make a trade during the 2026 NFL Draft, that turned out not to be the case, as they held their spot at No. 3 overall to take Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
As such, the first move of the night was ultimately made by the Kansas City Chiefs, who struck a deal with the Cleveland Browns to move up three slots into the No. 6 position, where they selected LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane. In return, the Browns received Kansas City's first-rounder at No. 9 overall, where they took Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano, as well as a third-rounder (No. 74 overall) and a fifth-rounder (No. 148 overall), both of which they traded away for more picks.
ESPN and Skydance Sports teamed up to produce a documentary entitled The Pick Is In, which aired recently and offered up a behind-the-scenes look at how three teams handled this year's draft, one of which was the Browns, with the other two being the Dallas Cowboys and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Naturally, with Cleveland being involved, viewers were given access to what went down during the time before the trade with Kansas City. And naturally, since ESPN was involved, viewers also got to see the exact moment Adam Schefter found out the deal was done, and it's absolute gold. The folks at 850 ESPN Cleveland shared their clip on their X account, and if you start at about the 40-second mark, you'll see that Schefter clearly still loves his job after all these years.
A look inside the Browns draft room and their trade back with the Chiefs.
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 3, 2026
The Browns were comfortable taking Fano, Tyson, and Mauigoa at no.9 overall. pic.twitter.com/sfBliFGPyk
"We have a trade! We have a trade! Trade! Trade! Trade!" Just phenomenal. And him complaining about the wi-fi only adds to the beauty of the clip.
If you watched the entire clip, you heard Schefter say about two hours before the draft that he thought the Cowboys could also be a potential trade partner for the Browns. And while this particular clip didn't show the details, those who watched the entire documentary know he was exactly right.
Browns turned down a trade with the Cowboys before making the deal with the Chiefs
Heading into the draft, both Cleveland and Dallas had two first-round picks each, and as the doc revealed, the Cowboys made an offer in which the two clubs would simply swap all those first-rounders, with America's Team getting Nos. 9 and 24 overall, with the Browns receiving Nos. 12 and 20.
Browns general manager Andrew Berry balked at the offer, calling it "light on all dimensions," and even when Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones offered to throw in a 2026 fifth-round pick to sweeten the deal, Berry obviously still said no, thus opening the door for the Chiefs to swoop in and land Delane.
The Browns were willing to trade out in the first place because they had three players in mind that they could take at No. 9, those being Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, the guy they ultimately got in Fano, and Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa.
Tyson went off the board at No. 8 to the New Orleans Saints, and Mauigoa was gone at No. 10 to the New York Giants. So, had the Browns traded back to No. 12, none of their targets would have been there, as Fano would have undoubtedly been unavailable as well.
So, that's why things went down the way they did. And everybody ended up a winner, as the Chiefs and Browns got their guys, and the Cowboys did as well after making a deal with the Miami Dolphins to move up one spot to No. 11 to take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs.
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