We always say the easiest thing for an executive of a professional sports franchise can do is either start a rebuild by trading off valuable commodities for future pieces (draft picks or prospects).
The second easiest is to play for a year or two down the road. We always criticize the Cleveland Browns for their seemingly forever “free beer tomorrow” attitude, but it’s hard to criticize most of what they’ve done in this year’s NFL Draft.
When Jacksonville threw in a first round draft pick in 2026 to move up three spots and take the second overall selection, it became a no brainer for GM Andrew Berry.
Our guess is even though Berry talked about Travis Hunter in glowing terms at a press conference, he and the organization wasn’t in love with the player or with Abdul Carter, so they traded down to get another early second round selection and the additional first.
No doubt all Browns’ fans will be rooting against the Jaguars from day one of the ’25 season.
We thought Mason Graham at worst would be a quality defensive tackle in the NFL so we had no problem with that choice. With Graham and second year DT Mike Hall along with Myles Garrett, but defensive line should be solid for years to come.
Eyebrows were raised by taking LB Chase Schwesinger out of UCLA because the Browns usually ignore the position. But there was buzz about him going late in the first round and reports say he’s a tackling machine. It’s not as though the Browns don’t have a need there.
We aren’t enamored by Jerome Ford as the lead back for the Browns, so selecting Quinshon Judkins out of Ohio State at #36 makes sense. Our bet is he will be the primary runner for Cleveland this season. And they added Dylan Sampson from Tennessee in the fourth round.
Remember, Kevin Stefanski likes to run the football, so the more quality runners the better.
The Browns play a lot of two tight end sets, so have a pair who need to be respected in the passing game also seems good. Harold Fannin from Bowling Green is a solid pass catcher who can team with David Njoku in “12” personnel.
We wanted the Browns to draft a QB, so first they took Dillon Gabriel who is maybe 5’11” and didn’t seem to be the best passer on the board. And guys like Shadeur Sanders, Quinn Ewers, and Will Howard were still available.
And then they took Sanders in the fifth round. Sanders is without question the better prospect behind center, so now what do the Browns do with two rookies at QB? Besides, it’s not as though Cleveland doesn’t have other needs. They could’ve used an edge rusher, an offensive lineman, a safety, to bolster positions in which they need help.
What looked like a sound reasonable draft turned into a “what the heck are they doing” draft. There was certainly no reason to take two QBs, if they wanted Sanders, they could have taken him when they took Gabriel.
It’s not a rap on Gabriel, it simply makes no sense to take both.
We heard a radio talker discussing the first overall pick for the Browns in 2026. If they have it, it better be because Jacksonville went 2-15. No matter what happened in this draft, the Browns can’t go 3-14 again.
Someway, somehow, they need to win football games. It might be like 2023, when they leaned on the defense to do it.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 