@gumby73 said:

Daniel Jeremiah 2026 NFL mock draft 2.0: 

@flugel  Are you forwarding all your Browns Mocks to DJ ?    it's working ! ?

https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-2026-nfl-mock-draft-2-0   

He's a former QB so you'll have to excuse him for copying a former Olineman...

@flugel  Are you forwarding all your Browns Mocks to DJ ?    it's working ! ?

https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-2026-nfl-mock-draft-2-0   

[url]Updated: Cleveland Browns 2026 Salary Cap Preview[/url]

To sum it up, we will probably have 68 mil to spend.

@orion said:

To rephrase, we will have money to spend.  Don't worry about it.

@orion said:

Watson-the gift that just keeps on giving 

@ballpeen said:

We have money to spend.  Maybe not as much as some past years, but we do have money.

@ballpeen said:

Glad  you brought up free agency.  We have money to spend.  Maybe not as much as some past years, but we do have money.  We may say we need 5 O linemen, but I doubt it sits there come the draft.  FA is entirely needs based.  Teams don't set out to sign the best player available, they sign guys they feel they can plug and play on day one, or at least fill a key back-up role.  That is why I don't rule out selecting a guy like Downs or Bailey.  At least not yet. Another possibility is trades.  

Once we get into April we will have a better feel for where we stand.  Nothing says we will lose all of our FA Olinemen.  I am pretty sure we will keep at least 1, maybe 2 of them.  I'd be shocked if we don't sign at least 1, maybe 2 as outside FA pick-ups.

By all accounts I have seen is it is a pretty good year to get talented O line help down through maybe round 5 or 6.  We don't need to hit the panic button just yet.

Yes indeed!  As far as our FAs - Bitonio has given us a consistent reliability since 2014. Unfortunately, that value has depreciated quite a bit the last 2 years partially due to the revolving door on his immediate left partnership at LT (chemistry & trust never established) as well as the loss of the veteran to his right.  He's still a credible leader; but 12 years of wear and tear has father time asking him if the never ending dumpster is worth it all.  I love what he's done for the Browns over the years; but I have a feeling he's gonna retire.  If so, veteran OG Teven Jenkins isn't a really a drop-off where Bitonio is at today outside of maybe the leadership intangible.  I feel horrible typing all that because he's been everything I've wanted as a fan QUITE A BIT...onio.

Our other FA OG is also coming off a frustrating season for his previous standard that achieved multiple Po Bowls here.  The wear and tear toll booth found him too.  He also dealt with the same chemistry and trust issues Bitonio had to with the change of partner on his outside as well as the Center to his left at the end of the year.  While we're at it - Center Ethan Pocic ended 2025 on IR followed by surgery.  In summary, we have lingering question marks remaining with all 3 of our IOL FAs if they are retained...

No time like the current situation with our OL to challenge Berry to prove he can compete as GM in this league.  The time is finally here and NOW!!!  Think of it like some squid in flip-flops from the Baltimore Jerk-offs just kicked sand in your face AB... Let's giddy-up and get after it here!!!

@flugel said:

Yeah, I could see that.  Some of the guys were talking about a trade-back that would add a pick.  I forgot what sports media guy said Indy veteran RT Braden Smith (previously 2nd round pick out of Auburn in 2018) would be a good FA idea for the Browns but I liked it in terms of adding a solid starter with experience/potential leadership potential.  I'm not smart enough to think that up; but I guess I'm not a bad parrot sometimes

Free agency can definitely help us this year IMO.  

Glad  you brought up free agency.  We have money to spend.  Maybe not as much as some past years, but we do have money.  We may say we need 5 O linemen, but I doubt it sits there come the draft.  FA is entirely needs based.  Teams don't set out to sign the best player available, they sign guys they feel they can plug and play on day one, or at least fill a key back-up role.  That is why I don't rule out selecting a guy like Downs or Bailey.  At least not yet. Another possibility is trades.  

Once we get into April we will have a better feel for where we stand.  Nothing says we will lose all of our FA Olinemen.  I am pretty sure we will keep at least 1, maybe 2 of them.  I'd be shocked if we don't sign at least 1, maybe 2 as outside FA pick-ups.

By all accounts I have seen is it is a pretty good year to get talented O line help down through maybe round 5 or 6.  We don't need to hit the panic button just yet.

@gumby73 said:

pick mid 90's- Arizona-Treydan Stukes 380 slot snaps. PFF grade 90.1

Real interesting, he's a slot corner, AND a cb.

4th round predicted, very interesting.

https://www.tankathon.com/nfl/players/treydan-stukes

@sdbacker80 said:

It is not just Emerson, Hickman and  the JAGs that played slot this season…and Ward (surprisingly healthy this year) but you never know year to year.  Secondary is a sneaky need.  

interested to watch a few combine slot corners..

pick Mid 50's- Miami- Keonte Scott 489 slot snaps PFF grade 89.6

pick 70's- Duke- Chandler Rivers  154 slot snaps  PFF grade 72.9

pick mid 90's- Arizona-Treydan Stukes 380 slot snaps. PFF grade 90.1

pick mid 150- South Carolina-Jalon Kilgore 497 slot snaps PFF 69.7 

200th- Oregon- Jadon Canady 346 slot snaps  PFF of 85.5

One of the first things I'd like to see Berry do is sign Devin Bush.  

@ballpeen said:

In the end I think our 1st round picks will end up around 12, and we stick at 24.  OT and WR will be our 1st round picks.  2nd round might go defense.  We do need a corner and a safety on that side of the ball.

Like I've mentioned in my stupid mock thread - the Cowboys don't have a 2nd or 3rd round pick in this next draft, at least now. So them trading up would give them the 6 pick, and they wouldn't have another pick until the 4th round. So, I think that is too much a price to pay for them.

@sdbacker80 said:

We have bigger needs but Delpit will be a free agent after next season.  Hes coming off his best season.  Will we pay him?  It is not just Emerson, Hickman and  the JAGs that played slot this season…and Ward (surprisingly healthy this year) but you never know year to year.  Secondary is a sneaky need.  

Great points! Delpit had an believable year without any major breakdowns or miscommunications.  Secondary is like OLine in the sense there's always a need with 5 guys needed (especially considering how often we went with a 4-2 in the 1st 2 tiers) so we always have that feeling we don't quite have all the essentials on board.  Tell you what - I hope we keep LBer Devin Bush (he's gonna be a FA) because he was great against the pass.  He looked like he had his dad's DB skills and speed.

Let's hope we can fill some holes in free agency; but make sure we avoid any/all Drew Rosenhaus clients.  He can go sell tanning beds in the Tropics for all I care...

@sdbacker80 said:

We have bigger needs but Delpit will be a free agent after next season.  Hes coming off his best season.  Will we pay him?  It is not just Emerson, Hickman and  the JAGs that played slot this season…and Ward (surprisingly healthy this year) but you never know year to year.  Secondary is a sneaky need.  

The one thing I'll give AB credit for is he's never been shy about drafting CBs. Depending on Martin Emerson's achilles status, I'm sure they'll draft at least one in the upcoming draft.

@gumby73 said:

Yes we do !

Thought Greg Newsome turned into a little whining bitch, at the time he was asked to play the inside slot corner position. We finished the season with a 7th rounder Myles Harden playing slot corner.. while UDFA Ronnie Hickman was starting at FS  ? due to injuries

We'll get Emerson back healthy this year.  The sad thing about last year from what I learned was he was so unhappy with his season before that he put in an incredible amount of off-season work that had him seemingly ready to return to the early success he had with the Browns. Unfortunately, that got intercepted by injury...

@ballpeen said:

We do need a corner and a safety on that side of the ball.

Yes we do !

Thought Greg Newsome turned into a little whining bitch, at the time he was asked to play the inside slot corner position. We finished the season with a 7th rounder Myles Harden playing slot corner.. while UDFA Ronnie Hickman was starting at FS  ? due to injuries

@ballpeen said:

I agree that our past drafting has been somewhat of a head scratcher.  I think it is pretty much a sure thing we draft a OT in the 1st round and another somewhere else.....maybe around round 4.

In the end I think our 1st round picks will end up around 12, and we stick at 24.  OT and WR will be our 1st round picks.  2nd round might go defense.  We do need a corner and a safety on that side of the ball.

Somebody is going to want our pick at #6

Yeah, I could see that.  Some of the guys were talking about a trade-back that would add a pick.  I forgot what sports media guy said Indy veteran RT Braden Smith (previously 2nd round pick out of Auburn in 2018) would be a good FA idea for the Browns but I liked it in terms of adding a solid starter with experience/potential leadership potential.  I'm not smart enough to think that up; but I guess I'm not a bad parrot sometimes

Free agency can definitely help us this year IMO.  

In the end I think our 1st round picks will end up around 12, and we stick at 24.  OT and WR will be our 1st round picks.  2nd round might go defense.  We do need a corner and a safety on that side of the ball.

Somebody is going to want our pick at #6

@ballpeen said:

IMO robbing Peter to pay Paul is how you remain a poor team.

Like i said before, I think the odds are pretty good that we trade down to keep our selection near our board valuation. I agree on guards and even center.  I wouldn't be so fixated on needing 2 tackles.  At this point I would draft the best offensive lineman no matter the position.

Thanks for your pov. I don't mind trading back a little to gain another pick as I've stated in other threads.  Like you said we agree on the C and OGs.  However, the part I bolded from you above if the Browns had actually drafted/prioritized OTackle higher than round 4 in any draft after 2020 there wouldn't be a sum of negligence polarizing our responses to it.  And when the plan is only that 4th round draft choice that has ended every one of the last 3 seasons on IR after showing up to training camp way overweight 2 of the last 3 seasons - the pass pro boundaries shrunk down to LG to RG with Flacco or 2 rookie QBs = unwatchable offense.  That also shrunk down where the RBs could only find daylight to between the OGs to the extent that area recruited more defensive traffic to help stop Judkins/running game. Not only that, our promising rookie RB took such a pounding from all the gang tackling he ended up on IR.  

Nowhere to run + no time to throw = the unwatchable offense we all gagged on. That is why I carefully worded it to Dutch "this is one of those times we gotta rob Pete to pay Paul."  IMO, the response to 5 years of neglect has to exceed ho-hum.  What I'm talking about is drafting zero OTackles in the 1st 3 rounds (all the while Conklin remained oft-injured/unreliable to the extent a GM better than AB doesn't extend the contact/raise the salary of this kind of liability).  

@flugel said:

As much as that makes sense Dutch, the problem is an OL needs 5 starters so this is one of those times we gotta rob Peter to pay Paul.  We didn't even really have decent on either side of Center last year.  Our OL looked like something you'd see on an expansion team (all returning starters had a lot of wear and tear depreciating their value and performance).

We can also look to FAs especially since we could be losing some to it or retirement; but they cost more than the rookie salary cap restricted contracts fwiw.

Last but not least, didn't last year's boycott of OL in our draft enable us to draft great players at TE, LB, and RB?   

IMO robbing Peter to pay Paul is how you remain a poor team.

Like i said before, I think the odds are pretty good that we trade down to keep our selection near our board valuation. I agree on guards and even center.  I wouldn't be so fixated on needing 2 tackles.  At this point I would draft the best offensive lineman no matter the position.

@dutch-oven said:

I was just about going to write almost the same thing.

In a perfect world, we come out of picks 6. 24 and 37 with two starting tackles and a WR.

But what I'm worried about is taking a decent starter too high because of the need while passing up great players at different positions. I wish their was a Tackle at 6 for example that was a slam dunk, but I'm not sure that guy exists in this draft. There's a decent amount of tackles I like, but more in the 10-20 range. 

As much as that makes sense Dutch, the problem is an OL needs 5 starters so this is one of those times we gotta rob Peter to pay Paul.  We didn't even really have decent on either side of Center last year.  Our OL looked like something you'd see on an expansion team (all returning starters had a lot of wear and tear depreciating their value and performance).

We can also look to FAs especially since we could be losing some to it or retirement; but they cost more than the rookie salary cap restricted contracts fwiw.

Last but not least, didn't last year's boycott of OL in our draft enable us to draft great players at TE, LB, and RB?   

@ballpeen said:

Bailey would be an excellent pick.  We would also get a lot of interest from other teams wanting to make that selection.

We pay scouts a lot of money to grade out players which goes a long way towards setting our draft board.  It makes no sense to me to invest into the resources to then throw it out the window on draft day.  I get team needs will dictate much of the first 4-5 picks, but I also don't want us reaching much further down our draft board just to fill those needs. Sometimes you just need to let the board come to you.  My theory is never pass on a player who you think is going to be a very good NFL player.

If needs are so great, you might be ok to reach down a little, but if not just take the gift you can get or trade down.  Trading down allows to address needs while staying aligned with your board. The further down the board, players start to bunch up rating wise allowing more flexibility in which player you take.

I was just about going to write almost the same thing.

In a perfect world, we come out of picks 6. 24 and 37 with two starting tackles and a WR.

But what I'm worried about is taking a decent starter too high because of the need while passing up great players at different positions. I wish there was a Tackle at 6 for example that was a slam dunk, but I'm not sure that guy exists in this draft. There's a decent amount of tackles I like, but more in the 10-20 range.