Should the Cleveland Browns Trade Down in the 2026 NFL Draft?
On Thursday, renowned Cleveland Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer spoke with Browns general manager Andrew Berry during the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. Berry told Cabot that he doesn’t “know” if Cleveland will be using their sixth pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and may trade down instead. Berry also admitted that he has “no idea” who the Browns will be taking if they keep the sixth pick. Additionally, if the Browns were to move on from the pick, the 39-year-old GM also disclosed that he is unsure if the Browns will even find another team to strike a deal with.
The signaling that the Browns could play matchmaker with another team for a potential king’s ransom of draft picks is a feeling that Cleveland fans are all too familiar with. Just last year, Berry and the Browns passed up on drafting 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and former Colorado Buffalo Travis Hunter when they traded the second pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In return, Cleveland not only got the Jaguars' 2026 first-round pick, but they also got defensive tackle Mason Graham and running back Quinshon Judkins, who were key pieces of Cleveland’s vaunted 2025 rookie class. What makes the idea of trading down an uneasy one for Browns fans is the fact that they’ve been burned before in situations like this. In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Browns traded the 12th pick to the Houston Texans, which ironically became the pick that led to the selection of Deshaun Watson. Cleveland fans had to sit and watch as Watson blossomed into one of the league's most dominant quarterbacks as a Texan before being shipped off to Cleveland just to end up on the Browns' injury reserve nearly every season. Trading down in the draft is a very tricky thing, and Cleveland fans are right to be wary about this.
Plenty of good options should be available for the Browns to take with the sixth pick in this year’s draft. Carnell Tate, the standout wide receiver from Ohio State, would immediately be one of the most targeted weapons on a Cleveland roster that is deprived of pass catchers. Miami’s offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa appears to be a beast in the trenches and would be the perfect complementary piece to Berry’s free agent class, in which he filled up nearly every spot on the offensive line. There seem to be several players that would be perfect fits for Cleveland, which further adds to the frustration of fans who want to see the Browns keep the sixth pick.
However, as the saying goes, give credit where credit is due. Berry did a phenomenal job drafting in last year’s class, and that was largely due to his decision to trade down with Jacksonville. Not only did the Browns bring in Graham and Judkins off the back of the first-round trade, but they also snagged linebacker Carson Schwesinger in the second round and tight end Harold Fanin in the third. This year’s draft is chock full of tremendous talent, potentially more so than most classes, which may be the ultimate reason why fans want to see Cleveland draft at the highest possible position they can. On the other hand, the Harvard University graduate is a very tricky general manager to deal with, and trading down this year just might give the Browns an even larger haul than what they got back from the Jaguars in 2025.
