Cleveland Browns secure No. 1 pick of draft with loss to Bears

For the second year in a row, the huddled-in-darkness Browns will control the first round of the NFL draft.

Cleveland secured the No. 1 overall pick with Sunday's 20-3 loss to the Bears, a defeat that left the Browns with a staggering 0-15 mark on the year.

The Browns become the first team to pick No. 1 overall in back-to-back drafts since Cleveland did the same in 1999 and 2000.

The loss dropped Hue Jackson to 1-30 since taking over in 2016, making it the worst start over the first 31 games of a head-coaching tenure since the 1970 merger.

With the Steelers up next and still fighting for playoff positioning in the AFC, the prospect of an 0-16 campaign -- for just the second time in NFL history after the Lions authored the feat in 2008 -- is deeply realistic for Cleveland.

Their season can't end soon enough, but what the Browns choose to do with the No. 1 overall pick makes this the most important draft for the franchise since their return to the league in 1999.

Anything less than finding a plug-and-play franchise quarterback is simply unacceptable for a team that has floated through a rash of lost seasons since Bernie Kosar roamed under center almost 25 years ago.