Quarterback

During the 2022 off-season, feeling they were a quarterback away from being true contenders, the Browns made an aggressive trade with the Houston Texans, giving up three first round picks for quarterback Deshaun Watson, who they then guaranteed 230 million over the next five seasons. It was a risky trade, not just because of the money and draft compensation it took to acquire him, but also because Watson had a history of legal trouble that not only made acquiring him a PR nightmare, but that also would cost Watson the first 11 games of the 2022 season, after he had already sat out the entire 2021 season. 

As risky as the trade seemed, it somehow has gone even worse than anyone could have expected. Watson has played just 20 games in four seasons in Cleveland, first missing those 11 games with suspension, then missing 11 games in 2023 with a shoulder injury, and then 27 games between 2024 and 2025 with a double torn achilles, including an entire 2025 season on the shelf. Even before all the injuries, Watson never played well and has completed just 61.2% of his passes for 6.04 YPA, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with the Browns, a far cry from the 67.8% completion, 8.21 YPA, 104 touchdowns, and 36 interceptions he had in five seasons with the Texans.

Whether it was rustiness after missing almost two seasons with suspension or a poor work ethic or lack of scheme fit, Watson has been a diminished quarterback since his first start with the Browns and subsequent injuries only made things worse. In his last action in 2024, he completed 63.4% of his passes for an average of just 5.31 YPA, 5 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions and now he is coming off of another major injury and heading into his age 31 season. 

The Browns were right that they were a quarterback away from being true contenders, going 18-16 between 2022 and 2023, despite a poor quarterback situation, but that has fallen to 8-26 between 2024 and 2025, as their roster has gotten older and the guaranteed money and draft compensation that the Browns gave up to get Watson has limited their ability to add young talent to replace their aging starters. Their defense, which has been the strength of this team for years, has remained a high level unit, ranking 4th in schedule adjusted efficiency in 2024 and 3rd in 2025, but their offense has ranked dead last both seasons, leading to the Browns ranking 29th in overall schedule adjusted efficiency in each of the past two seasons.

In Watson’s absence last season, the Browns started three quarterbacks, veteran Joe Flacco, third round rookie Dillon Gabriel, and fifth round rookie Shedeur Sanders, none of whom had any success. Sanders probably was the best of the bunch by default, but he completed just 56.6% of his passes for an average of 6.60 YPA, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. A lot of that was due to a poor supporting cast and he could be better in his second season in the league, but fifth round picks rarely develop into long-term starting quarterbacks in the NFL and Sanders has yet to show anything to suggest that he will be an exception.

The Browns had the 6th overall pick in this year’s draft, but with this being a weak quarterback draft, there was no quarterback worth taking with that pick and, as a result, Sanders is expected to compete with a returning Deshaun Watson for the week 1 starting job in 2026. Gabriel remains on the roster, but is not considered a serious contender for the starting job and, with the Browns adding yet another young developmental quarterback through the draft, 6th round pick Taylen Green, Gabriel is not even guaranteed a roster spot this season. 

Even though Sanders is younger and probably has the higher upside of their two quarterback options, Watson is considered the favorite for the job because the Browns apparently want to make absolutely sure he is not good before letting him walk as a free agent next off-season. New head coach Todd Monken also views Watson as being a better fit for his scheme than Watson was under previous head coach Kevin Stefanski and seems to think he can rehabilitate him. Monken was far from the Browns’ first choice at head coach and, hired at 59 years old, he is the 4th oldest first time head coach in NFL history, but he is at least a superior offensive play caller to Stefanski, which could help this offense at least a little bit. 

Regardless, Watson is unlikely to have significantly more success under Monken than he did under Stefanski, given his age and injury history, and it is very likely that both Watson and Sanders will see starts this season in what figures to be another lost season for the Browns, whose primary goal by November will probably be to determine if either Watson or Sanders has any chance to be the long-term starter, before deciding what to do with what figures to be another high draft pick in a better quarterback draft in 2027. This is arguably the worst quarterback room in the league.

Grade: C

Offensive Line

As I mentioned, the Browns had become an increasingly old roster in recent years, as a result of not having their own first round pick for three straight seasons from 2022-2024. Their oldest unit in 2025 was their offensive line, where four of their five week 1 starters finished the season at 30 years of age or older. The results were not good. In total, 10 different players made starts for the Browns upfront last season and the majority of them were liabilities. The relatively good news is that 8 of those 10 players were all free agents this off-season, giving the Browns an opportunity to retool this offensive line, but they didn’t have a lot of good options available to them and the result is an offensive line in 2026 that isn’t much better than it was in 2025. 

The only one of those eight free agents that the Browns had on the offensive line who was retained is guard Teven Jenkins, who was a backup for most of last season and only made just 4 starts. A 2nd round pick by the Bears, Jenkins was decent in his limited action last season, as he has been throughout his 42 starts in 5 seasons in the league, but he is also pretty injury prone, missing 23 games due to injury from 2021-2024 in his first stint as a starter. In five seasons in the league, his career high is 14 starts in a season. 

If Jenkins misses time again this season, which seems likely, he would probably be replaced by Zak Zinter, a 2024 3rd round pick who has shown very little across 279 snaps (3 starts) in two seasons in the league. Another possibility in Jenkins’ absence would be new right tackle Tytus Howard moving inside to guard, where he has made 32 of his 93 career starts, and then 3rd round rookie Austin Barber would slot in at right tackle, but that doesn’t seem like a good option.

The Browns gave Howard a big 2-year, 45 million dollar extension when they acquired him in a trade from the Texans this off-season, suggesting they view him as a tackle rather than a guard. Even as a right tackle, that is an overpay, as he is the 3rd highest paid right tackle in the league in terms of average annual salary, but he has mostly been just an average starter in his career regardless of where he has played. He is also now heading into his age 30 season and could start to decline in 2026, in which case he would likely be a liability. 

The Browns also overpaid free agent additions Zion Johnson and Elgton Jenkins, who will start at left guard and center respectively, after being signed to contracts worth 49.5 million over 3 years (14th highest paid guard in the league in average annual salary) and 24 million over 2 years (5th highest paid center in the league in average annual salary) respectively. Johnson was a first round pick by the Chargers in 2022, but has been a liability throughout his career, across 65 starts in four seasons in the league. 

Now going into his age 27 season, Johnson is running out of time to make good on the upside he entered the league with and he seemed like someone that would get a cheap one-year prove it deal this off-season, rather than a contract that pays him like an above average starter. Making matters worse, the player he replaces is Joel Bitonio, the Browns’ only above average starter on the offensive line last season. Johnson will almost definitely be a significant downgrade.

Elgton Jenkins, meanwhile, was once an above average starting offensive lineman, with experience at tackle, guard, and center in his career, but 2025 was a career worst year for him and he’s now heading into his age 31 season, so it is very likely his best days are behind him. He also missed 8 games last season with a broken leg that included ligament damage, which further dampens his outlook, and he has overall been pretty injury prone in recent years, missing 21 games total in the past five seasons combined. The Browns would be lucky to get both a decent and a healthy season out of him in 2026. If he misses time, the Browns would likely either turn to 5th round rookie Parker Brailsford or 2023 6th round pick Luke Wypler, who has struggled in 6 career starts.

Possibly the Browns’ best offensive lineman is left tackle Spencer Fano, even though he is only a rookie. Selected 9th overall after a trade down from 6, Fano has a high upside, but might not be more than an average starter as a rookie. He also hasn’t played left tackle since his freshman season in college and lacks ideal size and length for the left tackle position, meaning he could end up at right tackle long-term. For now, the Browns will try him on the more challenging left tackle, without another good option on the roster, but that just adds to his learning curve in year one. This figures to be a below average offensive line once again, even after all of their off-season changes and investment.

Grade: C+

Receiving Corps

After not having a first round pick in three straight drafts from 2022-2024, the Browns badly needed a good draft in 2025, which fortunately they did have. Arguably their best value pick was tight end Harold Fannin in the third round, who led the team with a 72/731/6 slash line and averaged 1.68 yards per route run as a rookie. Now going into his second season in the league, Fannin could take a step forward and be even better and, if he ever gets a good quarterback to play with, he could end up being one of the most productive receiving tight ends in the league.

Aside from Fannin, the best part of the Browns’ 2025 draft was the fact that they got an extra first round pick in 2026 out of it, just by moving down from 2 to 5 with the Jaguars. With the 24th overall pick that they got from Jacksonville, the Browns selected wide receiver KC Concepcion and then they got another first round caliber wide receiver, Denzel Boston, with their own second round pick at #39. The Browns’ wide receiver room was so bad last season that Concepcion and Boston could be their two best wide receivers, even as rookies. They will have big roles and both have big upside, but both could also struggle through growing pains in year one.

The Browns still have veteran Jerry Jeudy, who has been their leading wide receiver the past two seasons, and he figures to start in three wide receiver sets with Concepcion and Boston. With a terrible quarterback situation, Jeudy fell to a 50/602/2 slash line on 1.02 yards per route run last season, despite receiving 106 targets. Jeudy himself was part of the problem and, only in his age 27 season, he has some bounce back potential, but his career numbers aren’t drastically better than his 2025 numbers, as he has averaged a 66/912/3 slash line on 113 targets per 17 games in his career, while averaging 1.64 yards per route run. 

Jeudy did have a 90/1224/4 slash line in 2024, but that was largely because the Browns passed so much, as his 1.72 yards per route run average was not nearly as impressive as his overall yardage and he also had about 19% of his overall yardage in one game where backup quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 497 yards. At his best, he is only a slightly above average wide receiver option and, potentially fourth in the pecking order for targets behind Fannin and the two rookies, on a team with a bad quarterback situation, I wouldn’t expect Jeudy to produce much in 2026.

Isaiah Bond and Cedric Tillman both played significant roles in this receiving corps and remain on the roster, but I would expect both to be outside of the Browns’ top-3 wide receivers, unless injuries strike. A rookie last season, Bond averaged just 0.98 yards per route run with a 18/338/0 slash line on 44 targets, while Tillman, a 2023 3rd round pick, has averaged just 0.88 yards per route run, with averages of a 32/373/2 slash line on 59 targets per 17 games, in three seasons in the league. Tillman has also missed 13 games in three seasons, with at least three games missed in every season. Neither he nor Bond are guaranteed a roster spot in an improved receiving corps in 2026, though at least one of them will have to remain on the roster, due to the lack of a better option.

Behind Fannin at tight end, the Browns lost David Njoku, who had been a solid starting tight end for them for years, but took a backseat to Fannin last season, finishing with just a 33/293/4 slash line on 48 targets with a 1.06 yards per route run average in 12 games, before leaving as a free agent this off-season. In his place, the #2 job will either go to incumbent #3 tight end Blake Whiteheart, who has averaged just 0.31 yards per route run while playing just 455 total snaps in three seasons since going undrafted in 2023, Jack Stoll, a veteran blocking specialist with a career 0.47 yards per route run average, or 5th round rookie Joe Royer. All of them are likely to be downgrades from Njoku and none of them are likely to cut into Fannin’s playing time as much as Njoku did (42.9 snaps per game). This receiving corps is better than it was a year ago by default, but this is still a below average unit

Grade: B-

Running Backs

Another key member of the Browns’ 2025 rookie class is running back Quinshon Judkins, who went in the second round. Judkins had 230 carries in 14 games as a rookie and, while his 3.60 YPC average and 40.9% carry success rate don’t look good, it wasn’t really his fault, as he averaged just 0.40 yards per carry before contact, as opposed to 3.20 yards per carry after contact. He also broke tackles at a 17.8% rate and was surprisingly a decent receiver, averaging 1.05 yards per route run, despite not really being used much in that capacity in college. The Browns’ lack of offensive talent around him could keep Judkins’ YPC average down again in 2026, but he is still a solid starting running back. 

Even though Judkins was a decent receiver as a rookie, Dylan Sampson, another member of the 2025 draft class, going in the 4th round, will remain their primary passing down back in 2026. Sampson actually led this team with 1.86 yards per route run last season, which ranked 2nd in the league among running backs last season, and he finished with a 33/271/2 slash line on 40 targets. Sampson’s YPC average was even worse than Judkins’ at 2.69, as was his 30.8% carry success rate, but, like Judkins a lot of that wasn’t his fault, as he averaged 2.45 yards per carry after contact and had a 18.5% missed tackle rate. 

Judkins is clearly the better runner though, leaving Sampson as a passing down/change of pace complement. With third string running back Jerome Ford leaving in free agency, that job will likely go to Raheim Sanders, who was also a rookie last season, going undrafted. Sanders only averaged 3.41 YPC on 27 carries as a rookie, but he averaged 3.11 yards per carry after contact, had a 18.5% missed tackle rate, averaged 1.11 yards per route run, led the team with a 51.9% carry success rate and overall exceeded what you would expect out of an undrafted rookie, albeit in limited action. If Judkins misses time with injury, Sanders and Sampson would likely split work in his absence. By default, the Browns’ running back room is the strength of an offense that figures to be one of the worst in the league again in 2026.

Grade: B-

Edge Defenders

While the Browns’ defense has remained an elite unit in the past couple years, despite the team’s overall record, there are some concerns on this side of the ball. The big one is that they lost defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who is one of the best in the league and whose arrival in Cleveland in 2023 coincides with the Browns’ ascension to an elite defense. Another concern the fact that is edge defender Myles Garrett, who has won two of the past three Defensive Player of the Year Awards and who set the single season sack record in 2025, is now going into his age 31 season.

I don’t expect Garrett to drop off suddenly overnight, but if he declines from a record setting Defensive Player of the Year to merely a really good edge defender, that could have somewhat of a negative effect on a defense that is built around him, especially when coupled with the loss of their defensive coordinator. Selected 1st overall in 2017, Garrett has more than lived up to the hype, totaling 125.5 sacks, 115 hits, and a 14.5% pressure rate in 134 career games, while playing at a high level against the run as well. He has been especially good as a pass rusher in recent years, totaling 83 sacks, 71 hits, and a 16.0% pressure rate in 83 games since the start of the 2021 season.

Any potential decline from Garrett would be made worse by the fact that the Browns don’t really have another high level edge defender opposite him. Alex Wright is an above average run defender, but doesn’t really rush the passer, totaling just 5.5 sacks, 5 hits, and a 8.4% pressure rate in 14 games last season and totaling just a 6.8% pressure rate in four seasons in the league, since being selected in the 3rd round in 2022. Wright (470 snaps in 2025) splits snaps opposite Garrett with Isaiah McGuire (428 snaps in 2025), a solid, but unspectacular all-around rotational player, who has 4.5 sacks, 12 hits, and a 12.3% pressure rate in 33 games as a part-time player over the past two seasons.

Cameron Thomas (310 snaps) was decent as a deep reserve last season, but is no longer with the team, leaving Julian Okwara, who has played just 1,056 snaps in six seasons in the league and who spent the entire 2025 season on the Browns practice squad, as the most likely candidate to be the Browns’ fourth edge defender. The only other options are Markees Watts, a former undrafted free agent who has played just 83 snaps in three seasons in the league, and a trio of undrafted rookies. Myles Garrett’s presence still makes this a really good edge defender group, but Garrett might not be quite as good in 2026 as he has been in recent years, they lack another above average starter opposite him, and depth is very scarce outside of their top-3, all of which hurts their overall grade at least a little bit.

Grade: A-

Interior Defenders

Another talented rookie from the Browns’ 2025 draft class is Mason Graham, who they selected 5th overall after moving down with the Jaguars in that trade that netted them an extra first round pick, among other picks. Graham was solid as a rookie across 765 snaps, only managing 0.5 sacks, but adding 4 hits, and a 8.1% pressure rate, while providing above average run defense. He has a good chance to take another step forward in year two.

That would be good because the rest of this position group is concerning. Shelby Harris (511 snaps) and Maliek Collins (473 snaps) played significant roles for this group last season, but Harris left as a free agent and was replaced by Kalia Davis, an obvious downgrade who has been a consistent liability on snap counts of 54, 259, and 491 in three seasons of action his career, especially struggling as a pass rusher, with a career 3.1% pressure rate. Collins, meanwhile, is going into his age 31 season and coming off of a career best year that he seems unlikely to repeat in 2026, given his age.

Collins finished last season with 6.5 sacks, 7 hits, and a 9.6% pressure rate in 12 games and, while he has consistently been a solid pass rusher in his career, with 22.5 sacks, 39 hits, and a 9.8% pressure rate in 75 games over the past five seasons, he has never been as good as last season. He’s also consistently been a liability against the run in his career, which his pass rush ability was enough to make up for last season, but it might not be this season.

The Browns will be hoping to get more this season out of Michael Hall, their 2024 2nd round pick, who played just 178 snaps in 9 games due to injury, but he also only played 232 snaps in 8 games as a rookie, due to injury and suspension, and he hasn’t shown much in his limited action. With Hall and Davis likely to be a big part of this interior defender rotation and Maliek Collins unlikely to be as good as a year ago, the Browns badly need Mason Graham to take a significant step forward in year two, which is a possibility, but not a guarantee.

Grade: B

Linebackers

Carson Schwesinger was another talented rookie from the Browns’ 2025 draft class, providing both above average run defense and pass coverage across 958 snaps, en route to winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, after being drafted in the second round. Like Mason Graham, he could take another step forward in year two and, like Graham, the Browns need him to, given the state of the rest of this position group. 

Devin Bush, a solid linebacker across 873 snaps, left as a free agent and the Browns replaced him with free agent addition Quincy Williams, who was a decent every down linebacker in his prime, but who was a massive liability across 783 snaps in a career worst 2025 campaign and who now heads into his age 30 season, meaning his decline last season was likely permanent. He figures to be a significant downgrade from the departed Bush.

Depth is a concern too with top reserves Jerome Baker (261 snaps) and Mohamoud Diabette (298 snaps) gone. That leaves the third linebacker job to either 5th round rookie Justin Jefferson, 2024 undrafted free agent Winston Reid, who has played 144 snaps in his career, 2024 6th round pick Nathaniel Watson, who has played 55 snaps in his career, or 2025 undrafted free agent Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, who has played 12 snaps in his career. The third linebacker only plays in obvious running situations, but if either Schwesinger or Williams miss time with injury, whoever is the third linebacker would likely have to move into an every down role. Schwesinger elevates this position group, but the rest of this group is a liability.

Grade: B-

Secondary

Luckily, the Browns’ secondary remains largely the same as a year ago, with the only differences being potential improvements. Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell will be the starting cornerbacks in base packages again. Ward, selected 4th overall by the Browns in 2018, has been a consistently above average starter throughout his career, while starting 107 of 110 games played in eight seasons in the league. The only concern with him is durability, as he has missed 23 games in his career, including at least two in seven of eight seasons and at least one in every season. 

Campbell also has durability concerns, missing at least two games in three of five seasons in the league and 13 games total, but he is generally an average to above average starter when healthy. Acquired 5 games into the 2025 season for Greg Newsome, Campbell proved to be an immediate upgrade and, still only going into his age 26 season, the 2021 2nd round pick should continue playing at a similar level in 2026 and for at least the next few years. Having him for the full season should be a small boost to this secondary.

At safety, Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman will remain the starters. Delpit, a 2nd round pick in 2020, missed his whole rookie season with injury, but has played in 78 of a possible 85 games since, starting 68 of them, and he has generally been an average to above average starter. Hickman, meanwhile, went undrafted in 2023 and didn’t become a full-time starter until 2025, but he flashed promise across snap counts of 308 and 463 in his first two seasons in the league and carried that into his first season as a starter, in which he was above average in 17 starts. Hickman is still relatively unproven, but should continue playing at that level going forward and, only going into his age 25 season, it is possible his best days are still yet to come.

The one potential difference in this group could be the fifth defensive back role, which is close to a full-time role, given how often teams are in sub packages now. Myles Harden, a 2024 7th round pick, somewhat predictably struggled in that role, playing 529 snaps, the first significant snap count of his career. In 2026, he could be replaced by second round pick Emmanuel Warren-McNeil, a safety who can also play on the slot and who was a steal in the late second round, or veteran free agent addition Myles Bryant, who has only played snap counts of 69 and 343 in 2024 and 2025 respectively with the Texans, but who played snap counts of 689 and 852 in 2022 and 2023 respectively, who is still only going into his age 28 season, and who has overall been a decent slot cornerback in his career. This is an above average overall secondary that could easily be better in 2026 than it was in 2025.

Grade: A-

Kickers

The Browns made 2023 undrafted free agent Andre Szmyt a first time starter in 2025 after he won an off-season competition and the decision largely paid off, as he added 2.02 points above an average kicker on the season. He’s still pretty unproven and it is tough to know what to expect from him going forward, especially at a position that tends to be pretty inconsistent year-to-year, but Szmyt has more than earned the right to be the undisputed starter going into 2026, which the Browns have made him by not adding any competition for him this off-season.

Grade: B

Conclusion

The Browns spent a lot of money to try to improve their offense, particularly their offensive line, this off-season, but all of those additions were overpays. They could be better by default on offense this season, after ranking dead last in the past two seasons, with some promising rookies being added and a new offensive head coach and play caller, but their defense could easily be worse, after losing elite defensive play caller Jim Schwartz, as well as a few free agents, while other key players like Myles Garrett and Maliek Collins are on the wrong side of 30. Overall, this looks likely to be a third straight last place season for this team.

Prediction: 4-13, 4th in AFC North