Jake Paul says his next athletic chapter could come after boxing, and the Cleveland Browns are the destination he has in mind.
The Northeast Ohio native told Front Office Sports that he wants to play wide receiver in the NFL once his boxing career is over, and he sounded more serious than he has in previous talks about the idea. Paul has floated the possibility before, but in this interview he laid out why he believes he could make the jump.
“I think there is a lot of super mediocrity in the NFL,” Paul said. “A lot of not good athletes. A lot of people dropping passes on a consistent basis; I have better hands than them, I’m faster than them, I’m stronger than them, I work harder than them.”
Paul said that after boxing, he would only need to work on a few routes before building toward an NFL receiver role. He also said he has already heard from some NFL teams and coaches who have shown interest, though there’s no way to verify that.
When it comes to a specific team, Paul didn’t hesitate.
“I’d love to go to the Cleveland Browns, I’ve been a Browns fan my whole entire life, my mom is a diehard Browns fan, and I think they could use some good receivers over there.”
He closed the interview by asking the Browns to keep jersey No. 17 ready for him.
The 29-year-old also used the conversation to push back on people who doubted he could box after coming up as a YouTuber and former Disney star. Instead, he has fought Ben Askren, Nate Diaz, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Mike Tyson.
His latest fight ended in a loss to Anthony Joshua, with the Westlake, Ohio native suffering a broken jaw in the TKO defeat.
Paul’s connection to Cleveland football isn’t new. The Browns signed him a few years ago for influencer work, and he smashed a guitar during a late December game against the New Orleans Saints in 2022.
He also has some real football background. Paul played two seasons of varsity high school football at Westlake High School and wrestled in high school. His brother, WWE superstar Logan Paul, was a state-qualifier in wrestling at Westlake and also played football there.
Still, the idea of Paul landing on an NFL roster looks far-fetched, especially in Cleveland. Browns general manager Andrew Berry added KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston in the 2026 NFL Draft, and the team views them as its wide receivers of the future.
Paul is not part of those plans, even if a pairing with Shedeur Sanders would give social media one of the most watched quarterback-receiver duos in pro sports history.
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