During the 2005 NFL Draft, something happened. Something that is still talked about today. Teams passed on quarterback Aaron Rodgers out of Cal. A lot of teams, in fact. Rodgers went 24th overall to the Green Bay Packers.

The rest is history.

One of the teams that passed on Rodgers happened to be the Cleveland Browns. With the third pick in the draft, they took wide receiver Braylon Edwards out of Michigan.

Edwards played four full seasons (and a bit of a fifth) with the Browns. In that time, he racked up 238 receptions for 3,697 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Edwards had two decent seasons, one “eh” campaign and one great year. That great year came in 2007, when he set career-highs in receptions (80) yards (1,289) and touchdowns (16). The rest of his time with the Browns was nothing special.

In fact, the rest of Edwards' career was nothing all that great. He ended up playing eight seasons, retiring after 2012. The receiver played with the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks as well.

Edwards finished his career with 359 receptions for 5,522 yards and 40 touchdowns. Not miserable numbers, but not really much from a third-overall pick.

Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers went to the Packers and sat behind Brett Favre for a few years, before becoming the starter. Once he was the starter, he was an immediate success.

Rodgers has been an MVP and won a Super Bowl. Even in 2019 he has the Packers in position for a Super Bowl run. They finished the regular season 13-3 and are still alive in the playoffs, in the Divisional Round. Just three wins away from another Super Bowl trophy.

So what if the Browns did not pass on Aaron Rodgers? What if they took him with that third overall pick?

Rodgers has 46,946 career passing yards. He's completed 64.6% of his passes and has 364 touchdown passes compared to just 84 interceptions. Rodgers even has 3,122 rushing yards and another 28 touchdowns on the ground.

There are a few things to think about here though. The first being the situation he was put in. Rodgers did not have to start immediately. He had three years behind one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time.

Aaron Rodgers likely learned a lot in that time, and grew as a quarterback. And when he took over, it was in a solid situation.

The Packers have often been knocked for not giving Rodgers a lot to work with. However, they have always had professional coaches and at least a few solid players around him. Donald Driver, Davante Adams, Jermichael Finley, James Jones, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb just to name a few.

What about the Browns? In 2005 Trent Dilfer and Charlie Fry were their quarterbacks. They combined for 3,323 yards and 15 touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions.

It's hard to imagine the Browns would have not immediately started Rodgers. And if they didn't, they would have the next season (Fry, Derek Anderson and Ken Dorsey were the quarterbacks that year).

In 2005, Reuben Droughns was the running back. Antonio Bryant, Dennis Northcutt, Steve Heiden and Edwards were the main targets (Edwards wouldn't have been drafted by the Browns though).

In 2006, Droughns was the running back again. Edwards (again wouldn't have been there), Kellen Winslow and Joe Jurevicius were the main targets.

Winslow is someone maybe Rodgers could have done a ton of damage with. Outside of that, not much to go crazy about. Jurevicius and Northcutt might have put up bigger numbers as well.

Would Rodgers have been ready to start though? And if he struggled some would the Browns have kept with him? Remember, this was at the height of the Cleveland disfunction.

In 2007 the Browns drafted Brady Quinn. That was the year Derek Anderson went off. So Quinn did not start.

2008 saw him play in three games, and he was their best quarterback. He threw two touchdowns and two interceptions, and had the highest completion percentage at 50.6% (seriously that was the highest). Anderson played in 10 games, and had nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Ken Dorsey and Bruce Gradkowski also played and combined for zero touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

The point is, Cleveland wasn't sticking with quarterbacks back then. They weren't winning so whoever someone struggled it seemed like they gave up on them.

Would a rookie Aaron Rodgers with a bad supporting cast been able to survive? What about a second-year Rodgers?

Maybe. That's the problem though, it's just a maybe. It's hard to imagine Rodgers would have had nearly the same career if he had been stuck in Cleveland at the height of their dysfunction.

That being said, if they managed to stick with him, Rodgers would have at least given the Browns hope. For a few seasons, Cleveland would have been a little more exciting.

However, would that random 2007 season have happened? When Anderson had a career-year and the Browns went 10-6? Would Rodgers have been able to replicate that in a season where he threw 28 passes for the Packers in real life?

In the first four years of Rodgers' career, the Browns went 24-40. Rodgers would have led them to a better overall record than that had he been given all four years as the starter. Would Cleveland have stuck with him though? Even more important, would he stay with them after his rookie contract was up?

Aaron Rodgers is a franchise altering quarterback. Cleveland was not ready to be altered just yet. This will always be looked at as a miserable move by the Browns (and a ton of other teams). However, Cleveland was such a mess at the time, they might have altered the career of Rodgers instead.

Consider this a lucky mishap for Rodgers that the Browns passed up on him. It would have just been another disappointing time for Cleveland, as Rodgers would have left in free agency after a few years anyways.