1 week Ago
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry often says that drafting is never done with just one year or one need in mind. His sixth draft with the Browns was a reminder that a plan is never truly finalized until picks are submitted, either. Berry’s Browns weaved, traded and made audibles through one of the most bizarre and unpredictable drafts in recent memory, culminating in Cleveland selecting quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round , at No.
144. Advertisement The Browns started the draft with a bold but sensible decision to pass on the chance to get Sanders’ Colorado teammate, two-way standout Travis Hunter, instead choosing a trade with Jacksonville that netted the talent-deficient Browns an extra 2026 first-round pick and Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham at No. 5 .
That signaled that the Browns might not be in the quarterback business with any of their premium picks in this draft and might instead opt for a necessary replenishing of line of scrimmage players on both sides. Two days later, they had selected two quarterbacks, two running backs, no offensive linemen and an off-ball linebacker with one of the draft’s most historically coveted picks. There was no one — internally or externally — who could have predicted the Browns’ picks and the order of those choices.
Now it’s on Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski to put it all together and continue to help the Browns try to navigate the reality of their failed Deshaun Watson experiment and the season that lies ahead. Regardless of how directly Berry and Stefanski address and embrace it, these Browns are a two-draft fix. One of those is now complete, and the quarterback room is crowded but void of any guarantees.
The highly scrutinized Sanders was graded as a first- or second-round prospect. But he probably starts his pro career fourth in line in Cleveland with no real promise of anything but the chance to show he’s worth further development and reward the Browns for ending his wait. Can the Browns make it all work? Can this long journey — by Sanders, Cleveland and all involved — end up being viewed as a smart and potentially tide-turning draft? For now, it’s just the marquee piece of an offseason that started with Cleveland spending big to get All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett to sign an extension and stop publicly telling the truth about the state of the roster.
Advertisement Now, it heads to the next phase with Graham expected to make Garrett’s life easier and at least a theoretically open summer quarterback competition with veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett and the two rookies, Dillon Gabriel and Sanders. Who wins it? What’s next in the plan to improve and compete while keeping a necessary eye on the future? More than anything, following this draft it’s probably smart to avoid the prediction business when it comes to this in-flux version of the Browns. “You envision how the draft could possibly play out and then you just really adjust to what’s on the board,” Berry said.
“We don’t really go into the draft saying, ‘OK, here are our needs and we’re just going to pick a player at (certain) positions.’ If you do that, that’s typically how you make mistakes. So there is a little bit of a flow to the weekend because the board does take different twists and turns as you go — some expected, some unexpected.
” rollin’ into The Land @ShedeurSanders | #DawgPound pic.twitter.com/Kgm5kBmZbJ — Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 26, 2025 Some turns are sharper than others.
The expected draft route would have been a focus on offense after the 2024 Browns finished last in scoring, 31st in yards per play, 32nd in yards per pass attempt and only avoided the bottom five in any category because Jameis Winston went nuclear for a few games. By the end of the season, Winston was benched because he threw too many interceptions and because the Browns wanted to ensure they didn’t accidentally win a game in late December and screw up their draft position. The Jaguars started calling about the big first-round trade earlier this month, shortly after Berry and Stefanski returned from a quarterback tour that confirmed some of the team’s previous impressions of Gabriel.
The Browns view Graham and linebacker Carson Schwesinger as solid, long-term contributors and probably as immediate starters. In selecting Schwesinger atop the second round, the Browns likely were signaling that they don’t believe former Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah will play in 2025. Owusu-Koramoah suffered a significant neck injury in October, and the team has shared no firm details on his status.
Advertisement The Nick Chubb era has probably ended in Cleveland, too, with the selection of two running backs: Quinshon Judkins in the second round and Dylan Sampson on Saturday. Jerome Ford is entering the final year of his rookie contract, but the draft signaled that the team may be ready to let the kids take over sooner rather than later. Best value pick Harold Fannin Jr.
is probably at least a year away from being a full-time player, and No. 67 was a reasonably predictable landing range for him. But Fannin was uber-productive in college despite being new to the tight end position, and he’ll have time to continue to develop as he carves out a role in Cleveland.
He’s not the fastest player or smoothest separator, but he has natural pass-catching talent and finds ways to get open. Most surprising pick Gabriel — yes, even after the Browns traded up 22 spots in the fifth to take Sanders. Deciding not to take a quarterback in the first or second round was a sensible plan, one that the team backed up by acquiring Jacksonville’s 2026 first-rounder.
But using a top 100 pick on Gabriel was a total stunner and impossible to explain, even independent of trading up to add Sanders 50 picks later. The Browns need help at lots of spots, but a team that plays on the shores of Lake Erie used a third-round pick on a potential backup quarterback who’s 5-foot-11. No other quarterback was drafted between Gabriel at 94 and Sanders at 144.
Biggest question mark What is the plan at quarterback? Was there even a draft-related strategy? The Browns have been adamant that they’ll hold an open competition for the starting job this summer, but on Saturday they added an extra competitor. Rookies need summer snaps to gain confidence and prove their worth, and starters need summer snaps to develop timing and chemistry to prepare for the season. The Browns might not have a true starting-quality quarterback among their four competitors, so this could go any number of ways.
Sanders’ presence ensures that the journey will be televised. Remaining needs The Browns still figure to be shopping in the back end of free agency at multiple positions, and that probably has to start on the offensive line. With longtime interior line stalwarts Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller and Ethan Pocic all entering the final year of their current contracts, not adding any offensive linemen during the draft is inexcusable.
The Browns need more depth and speed at wide receiver, too, and they’re almost certain to go the veteran route to find more help at safety. Advertisement Post-draft outlook The 2025 Browns are hoping to just be competent offensively, and that would be a stark improvement from what they were in 2024. But that’s also far from a given with uncertainty at quarterback and not much depth at any spot.
The Browns will be counting on at least one rookie running back to play immediately, and they believe third-year receiver Cedric Tillman can build on the handful of big games he posted late last season. Nobody saw the Browns starting this draft with two defensive players. Maybe they entertained the idea of drafting two quarterbacks, but no one envisioned those two being Gabriel and Sanders.
Probably, the Browns have long accepted that they’re a team in transition and likely won’t be a real playoff contender in 2025. But they still expect much better than last year, and probably need to be much improved to avoid wholesale changes. That starts with the Garrett-led defense causing headaches for opponents and giving Cleveland a chance to win ugly.
How many can the Browns win? How many longtime contributors will still be on the team at this time next year, or even after the November trade deadline? Those were fair questions with no clear answers before the start of what became the strangest, most surprising draft in recent memory. In the wake of it, we’re still going to need time to figure out exactly which way this team believes it’s headed. (Photo: Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images).
