By admin 
The Cleveland Browns had the first and fourth picks in the 2018 NFL Draft, and their offensive coordinator at the time says he knew exactly what to do with them. Todd Haley told Dave Dameshek on Monday that his pitch was Saquon Barkley at No. 1 and Josh Allen at No. 4, and that the road not taken still bothers him.
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“I was asked daily, you know, what I would do, by ownership, by everybody,” Haley said on Football America. “… I said, ‘Easy, simple. Take Saquon Barkley number one, take Josh Allen number four.’ Easy in hindsight to say it. It would have been something special.”
What the Browns did instead
Cleveland took Baker Mayfield first overall and cornerback Denzel Ward at No. 4. The New York Giants grabbed Barkley at No. 2, and the Buffalo Bills traded up to No. 7 for Allen. Haley was fired midway through that season along with head coach Hue Jackson.
Since then, Allen has become one of the best quarterbacks in football and won the 2024 MVP award. Barkley ran for 2,005 yards that same season after signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. Haley was careful not to knock the players the Browns did pick, but he didn’t hide how much the what-if still stings.
“Cleveland’s a mess generally, so I get it. I got my contract, so that all worked out,” Haley said. “But there are nights I wake up in a cold sweat, especially after we see Josh Allen do some Josh Allen-like things.”
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“This is not an indictment on Denzel Ward, who’s a really good player, or Baker Mayfield,” he added, “but I think things would have looked a lot different if you had Saquon and Josh Allen on the same roster.”
The timing of the comments doesn’t help in Cleveland. The Browns are 3-2 after a 17-12 loss to the New York Jets in which Deshaun Watson was sacked eight times. The quarterback search that started with that 2018 draft has never really ended.
The Baltimore Ravens come to Huntington Bank Field on Sunday. Browns fans who heard Haley’s story might be the ones losing sleep this week.
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This story was originally published October 13, 2026 at 5:00 AM.