Andrew

Berry

The Browns will send two sixth-round picks (Nos. 179 and 216) and one seventh-round pick (No. 255) from this year’s draft in exchange for the Texans’ 2025 fifth-round pick (No. 166) and a 2027 fifth-round pick. This is a fun one from Browns GM Andrew Berry. News reports continue to swirl around the Browns’ grand plan for the No. 2 overall pick, but Berry seemingly has a special player in mind, whom he hopes to draft in the late fifth round.

Though Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter and Colorado WR/CB Travis Hunter are certainly in play here, per the Akron Beacon Journal’s Chris Easterling, the Browns have notably “conducted private workouts and dinners with five quarterbacks,” including Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders. It stands to reason that the Browns will at least add one rookie quarterback to compete with Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, though whether that player arrives via the No. 2 pick remains to be seen.

Earlier in the day, Haslam was quoted as saying the trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson was “a big swing and a miss.” The team’s plans under center certainly remain up in the air with Watson rehabbing a torn Achilles suffered in 2024, but Haslam asserted the team does not feel the need to reach for a signal caller at No. 2 overall, nor trade up to the first pick in the coming NFL draft to select a quarterback. It should be noted that this is the same owner who was swayed to draft Johnny Manziel because a homeless man told him to — if any situation screamed “reach for a quarterback” in the NFL, it is this one.

Berry then added that all possibilities remain open with the No. 2 pick and that Abdul Carter’s stress fracture in his foot wouldn’t prohibit them from drafting him. One possible read here is that Berry is hoping his comments spur another team to pay up for the right to draft Carter. The Browns desperately need a long-term solution at quarterback, and if they won’t trade up for Ward, they may eschew Shedeur Sanders and see what they can do later in the draft.

“Because they have to,” Schefter added, “because logic dictates that, because common sense dictates that.” It’s not been an uncommon sentiment from Browns beat writers this past month. The Browns enter this offseason with negative cap space, ahead of only the oft-cap beleaguered Saints. They’ve been linked to Kirk Cousins because he’ll be playing on an offset deal, like Russell Wilson did last year, if he’s released. That means he’d cost the Browns the league minimum. A Cousins-Cam Ward/Shedeur Sanders pairing would be a reasonable conclusion, giving Cleveland some short-term comfort to break in a rookie. If the Browns are determined to not adjust Deshaun Watson’s contract again, they truly lose a lot of their ability to create short-term cap space. What Schefter is selling makes sense to us.

Stefanski is the reigning Coach of the Year and continues to keep the Browns competitive despite Watson’s ineffectiveness and injuries over the last two seasons. Keeping Stefanski isn’t much of a surprise as he and Berry both signed extensions last offseason. While Watson is said to be returning, his future is a little murkier. Jones’ sources have indicated that the Browns won’t release Watson as a post-June 1 release would result in a record $119 million in dead money. They also aren’t relying on Watson being healthy for Week 1 next year and it remains unclear if he’ll even resume starting when healthy.

Haslem told ESPN the Browns’ performance this season “is a little perplexing”. He expressed support for Berry and Stefanski, who both signed contract extensions in the offseason. Haslem also added that it is too early to make decisions on the quarterback position. Given that Berry and Stefanski just signed new contracts and went 11-6 in 2023, they are likely to stick around. However, the Browns could be evaluating new quarterback talent after disappointing seasons from Deshaun Watson, who is owed $92 million in guaranteed money over the next two years.

The Browns from 2020 to 2023 had their best four-season stretch since the late 1980s under Stefanski and Berry. The Browns in 2020 made the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and won their first postseason game in 26 years. Stefanski seemingly worked miracles with the Cleveland offense in 2023, using five different quarterbacks and riding Joe Flacco into the playoffs after Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury. Berry, meanwhile, has helped build one of the NFL’s most dominant defenses over the past four years. Berry and Stefanski have stabilized an otherwise unstable Browns organization.

The Browns have gone 37-30 since Stefanski, a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, joined the team in 2020. Stefanski and Berry were hired by the team in the same offseason and have made the postseason twice in their first four years after going through a 17-year playoff drought from 2003 through 2019. The Browns have a franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson and a top defense led by Myles Garrett. Keeping a regime in place that helped turn around a struggling franchise seems like the ideal move for the Haslams.

The Browns are currently slotted to pick at No. 10. Trading down for more picks is usually the wise move, but hopefully the Browns don’t go too much longer without finding a true stud LT for Baker Mayfield. There’s plenty of talent to go around at RB, WR and TE, this offensive line just needs to put it all together. New RT Jack Conklin is a great first step, but it’d still behoove the Browns to use a high-round pick to find Mayfield a solid blindside protector.