The Cleveland Browns now know where they will be drafting in April.

Thanks to a win by the New England Patriots over the Buffalo Bills in Week 18, the Browns moved up to No. 2 in the NFL Draft order, putting Cleveland in a fantastic position.

Of course, the easiest route for the Browns would be to select a quarterback at that spot, be it Shedeur Sanders from Colorado or Cam Ward from Miami.

But there’s another path Cleveland could pursue.

Swap the pick.

If the Browns field makes an offer for the No. 2 pick, they will obviously attract a lot of interest, and one very interesting potential trade partner is the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings don’t appear to be a contender in the traditional sense, as they will prevail at the end of the first round.

However, Minnesota has a very interesting asset: quarterback JJ McCarthy.

The Vikings drafted McCarthy with the 10th overall pick last spring, but a preseason knee injury caused him to miss his entire rookie season.

McCarthy then watched Sam Darnold break through for Minnesota and earn his first Pro Bowl selection, leading many to question whether the Vikings would re-sign Darnold as a free agent.

If Minnesota does indeed keep Darnold, that would put McCarthy in a tough spot. Darnold is only 27 years old, so any deal to retain the USC product would obviously be long-term. And where does that leave McCarthy?

In this scenario, the Vikings’ best option would be to trade McCarthy, and the Browns could represent a perfect potential landing spot.

Minnesota could trade McCarthy, its first-round pick and some other significant draft capital (possibly including a 2026 first-rounder) to Cleveland in exchange for the No. 2 pick, which would allow the Vikings to select Travis Hunter and the Browns at the same time to provide their quarterback of the future and a lot of assets.

Of course, if Cleveland is committed to one of Sanders or Ward, that’s not even possible, but let’s keep in mind that McCarthy was selected very highly last year in an incredibly strong quarterback class, so he definitely has value.

It could make sense for the Browns to trade on McCarthy while also collecting a number of other draft picks to fill the remaining holes on their roster.

Now, would the Vikings pay such a high price to move up for Hunter? Maybe not, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on before the offseason begins.