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Cleveland Browns wrap up No. 1 draft pick -- again

By The Sports Xchange
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson. File photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson. File photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI | License Photo

The Cleveland Browns, mired in an 0-15 season, secured the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft for the second year in a row with their 20-3 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

The Browns, who finished 1-15 last season, are the first franchise to pick No. 1 overall in consecutive drafts since Cleveland picked first in 1999 (when the Browns returned to the NFL) and 2000.

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Cleveland also has the dubious distinction of being the first NFL team with multiple seasons with at least 15 losses.

"Honestly, I could care less about the No. 1 overall pick," Browns coach Hue Jackson said Sunday when asked during the postgame press conference about having the top pick again. "I'm more so (concerned) about that locker room. Those guys fight their tail off for me. They work hard. They do everything I ask.

"Like I told them, my disappointment is I can't get them to winning. That's unfortunate. We're not making enough plays to do it. That's kind of where we are."

Jackson, who has the support of Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam to return next season, is 1-30 as the Browns' coach since taking over in 2016. The record marks the worst start of a head-coaching tenure since the 1970 merger of the AFL and NFL.

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The Browns, who face the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Steelers next week, are in jeopardy of becoming only the second team in NFL history to finish 0-16. The Detroit Lions endured that fate in 2008.

In last year's draft, Cleveland took Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett with the first pick. Garrett has played in the past 10 games after missing the first four games because of a foot injury and another because of a concussion. He has 27 tackles and five sacks.

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