The Cleveland Browns are facing a tough situation right now.
Myles Garrett’s trade request essentially means that he doesn’t think this brass of decision-makers can turn the team around and lead them to Super Bowl contention.
That puts GM Andrew Berry in the spotlight, and he will be under pressure to deliver in the offseason.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to defend him, given how poorly he’s fared in the NFL Draft.
That was evident again last season.
That’s why Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports ranked the Browns as the team that had the worst year-one performance from their 2024 rookies:
“The first-year returns on the Browns’ 2024 draft class were brutal. Second-round pick Michael Hall Jr. served a suspension for off-field conduct and provided a few minor glimmers of his pass-rush capability later in the season. That was essentially it. No one else contributed in a positive way,” Trapasso said.
After taking Hall at No. 54, the Browns took G Zak Zinter in the third round.
Then, they took WR Jamari Thrash in the fifth round and LB Nathaniel Watson in the sixth round before using their seventh-round picks on CB Myles Harden and DT Jowon Briggs.
None of those players made an impact on Kevin Stefanski’s team.
Small-market teams need to nail the NFL Draft.
They’re not the flashiest free-agent destinations, and with the way the Browns have fared throughout the course of their history, they will have a tougher time landing top-notch talent unless they get things right in the NFL Draft and with trades.
Berry has usually gotten a fair deal in trades, but his track record in the NFL Draft leaves plenty to be desired.
And as much as the Deshaun Watson trade hurt them in that regard, the team will finally have a first-round pick this year, and they can’t afford to mess things up again.
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