CLEVELAND, Ohio -- You've heard it before and been burned, but guess what, it's true again.

The first pieces of the 2018 NFL Draft are falling into place for the Cleveland Browns.

This is it. For real this time. This is the draft that the Browns have been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for.

USC quarterback Sam Darnold and UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen both declared for the draft on Wednesday night. Penn State running back Saquon Barkley declared for the draft. Oklahoma senior quarterback Baker Mayfield is there. Wyoming junior quarterback Josh Allen announced he's in this draft. Louisville junior quarterback Lamar Jackson will probably declare. Assume Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick will be part of it.

Get them all in the mix. Give the Browns options. Create a greater chance that the Browns could own the 2018 draft.

The Browns will identify their quarterback in this class and draft him. Sashi Brown got fired for never picking a quarterback. Even if he signs a veteran, new GM John Dorsey will pick one. Jimmy Haslam will insist on it. Their guy. Not who's left. Of all the things that could have happened under Brown, that was never an easy option.

They liked Jared Goff, but the Rams jumped them to trade up to No. 1 and take him, and the Browns didn't like Carson Wentz, so they traded the No. 2 pick.

Myles Garrett was such an obvious choice as a rare force at defensive end, the Browns felt they had to take him at No. 1 last year. They liked Mitch Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes, but both were gone by No. 12. So they traded down rather than take Deshaun Watson.

Now, they'll evaluate and draft a quarterback, guaranteed. But they might do so much more.

Whether Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield or Jackson is their guy (please, no Allen), they can guarantee getting him while also potentially profiting from the needs of other QB-hungry teams. And that's never a given.

In 2013, when Dorsey owned the No. 1 pick with the Kansas City Chiefs, who needed a quarterback, the pickings were so slim he took a MAC tackle, Central Michigan's Eric Fisher, at the top while the first quarterback didn't come off the board until No. 16 with EJ Manuel.

There aren't always these options. There are now.

That means that to maximize the opportunity here, Browns fans may have to innoculate themselves against the phrase "trade down."

Hold down your gag reflex and just consider it.

In the last two years, the six quarterbacks taken in the first round were all traded up for: Goff, Wentz and Paxton Lynch in 2016 and Trubisky, Mahomes and Watson last year. So don't look at the Browns, Giants, Colts, Browns, Broncos draft order in the top five and think, "Which of those teams might need quarterbacks?"

Think of the teams that will go get quarterbacks. It's not impossible to consider the idea that Darnold, Rosen, Mayfield and Allen could be the top four picks.

Think the New York Jets are going to sit back at No. 6 and miss out on a quarterback? Think Denver at No. 5 might get jumpy if the quarterbacks are moving early? Cincinnati at No. 12? Washington at No. 13? Arizona at No. 15?

The Giants at No. 2 might even pay to jump to No. 1 if they're determined to get their quarterback.

Yes, prepare to play the fake draft trade game.

If you hate fun, stop here and moan about how the Browns are going to blow it no matter what. But around here, we're going to have some draft fun for the next 16 weeks.

Say the Browns zero in on Darnold. Say the Giants want Rosen, and the Browns make it clear they might make another deal with a team that wants Rosen at No. 1, and then happily take their quarterback at No. 4.

The Giants jump. Last year, San Francisco got two third-round picks and a fourth-rounder to move back from No. 2 to No. 3 so Chicago could move up and grab Trubisky. The cost for No. 1 is even more. So the Browns move from No. 1 to No. 2 and get a second-rounder and two thirds (one this year, one next) from the Giants.

The Browns take Darnold at No. 2.

Denver jumps from No. 5 to No. 3 in a trade with Indianapolis and takes Allen.

Now the Browns, sitting at 4, hold an auction for the desperate QB teams that like Mayfield or Jackson. The Jets bite. The Browns get their No. 1 next year for it. New York takes Mayfield.

Indianapolis, now picking at No. 5 after the trade back with Denver, takes pass rusher Bradley Chubb.

And the Browns, at No. 6, have a choice of Barkley or Fitzpatrick.

They get their quarterback, either the best running back or defensive back, and an extra first-rounder, second-rounder and two third-rounders.

And then guess what? The Browns trade their first pick in the second round and the first-rounder next year acquired from the Jets to Seattle to move up to No. 18 to take a receiver like Courtland Sutton, Calvin Ridley or Christian Kirk.

Darnold.

Barkley.

Kirk.

Still three picks in the second round (the ones they already had from Houston and Philadelphia, plus the new one acquired from the Giants), plus two third-rounders. And an extra third in 2019.

Too optimistic? Maybe. Nuts? Probably. Impossible? Not at all, at least a version of it.

You know who might have been great at wheeling and dealing in a spot like? Yeah, that guy, the one who isn't here any longer.

But trust Dorsey. Because the last draft piece has come together.

First came the assets gathered by Brown. Then came the Houston Texans having bad luck with Watson's injury and a terrible year otherwise to make their first-round pick as high as No. 4. Then came the Browns, after firing Brown, hiring a veteran in Dorsey who has managed something like this before.

And now the last piece -- the talent is there. There are enough quarterbacks and other elite guys to give the Browns a lot of ways to go. Darnold wasn't a sure thing to leave USC, and his presence helps. Mayfield and Rosen had the kind of seasons that established them as potential franchise QBs. That helps.

Assuming Hue Jackson doesn't worm his way into the decision-making process enough to blow it, the worst the Browns should do is their quarterback at No. 1 in Darnold, Rosen or Mayfield, and one of the best non-quarterbacks at No. 4 in Fitzpatrick, Barkley or maybe an offensive tackle. Plus all those second-rounders.

That's a great haul. And it could be even more.