Cleveland Browns Draft Preview

   The Cleveland Browns will make their final installment on the DeShaun Watson trade in the 2024 draft as they have sent their first and fourth-rounders to the Houston Texans, so the Browns have just six picks in the draft (only four of those their own) to add young and cost-affordable players.

I would not be surprised at all to see Andrew Berry and the Browns trade down in either the second or third rounds to add a pick in the fourth round, where they do not currently own a choice.

I wrote in the "Persons of Interest" series that the Browns didn't have a glaring need but they did have a few positions that could use improvement.

This puts the Browns in a position of taking the "best player available", although there are a few spots that may have priority over others.

Here are the Browns selections: 

Round 2: (54)

Round 3: (85)

Round 5: (156) Via Philadelphia thru Arizona

Round 6: (206)

Round 7: (227) Via Tennessee

Round 7: (243) 

The Browns could have their best chance of obtaining a potential impact player if they drafted a wide receiver where there is a decent chance that one of a deep crop of pass catchers could fall to them with their second-rounder with the fifty-fourth overall choice.

I would love to see the Browns add some more speed at linebacker and I definitely could like another defensive lineman, preferably a defensive tackle if all things were equal.

I would also think the Browns could address offensive tackle and tight end with tackle the position that they could draft a player that they wouldn't have to expect to play right away.

I would like to see a tight end that can catch passes drafted to replace the departed Harrison Bryant as the backups Jordan Akins and Giovanni Ricci are blockers more than pass catchers.

Should the Browns not address this issue and David Njoku would miss a substantial amount of time, the Browns would lose a major part of their passing game, so I believe they do need to use a day three pick at tight end.

I attempted a mock draft on a simulator with the Browns using their picks and taking offers from teams in trade.

This link expires in a week, so I'll summarize with this- I made five trades moving down and added picks in 2025 in the third round, three picks in the fourth round, five in the fifth round, and one in the sixth.

Now that's pretty unrealistic in the real world but for fun, here are the players that I picked with the picks and the picks acquired through trades as well

61) Maason Smith DT LSU 

85) Jeremiah Trotter Jr. LB Clemson

86) Jalen McMillan WR Washington

133) Will Shipley RB Clemson

189) Jaheim Bell TE Florida State

204) Ethan Driskell T Marshall

206) Josh Newton CB TCU

227) Joe Milton QB Tennessee

243) Josh Proctor S Ohio State

247) Kamal Hadden CB Tennessee

249) Quan'Tez Stiggers CB Toronto Argonauts

That type of haul that started with the few picks that the Browns have would be a pipe dream, but in the dream world, it was fun to do and I'd think the Browns would be happy with my work.

The only disappointing part was missing out on an impact wide receiver but otherwise, I would be thrilled with the talent and picks to play with for the 2025 draft.