Three needs for the Cleveland Browns in the 2022 NFL Draft
The Cleveland Browns have all but wrapped up their additions for the 2021 NFL season, and training camp doesn’t start until late July, but the front office is always looking far ahead.
This roster will look very different next season, and needs must be filled with rookies.
Here are three areas the Browns will likely need to address in the 2022 NFL Draft.
3. Interior offensive line
The Browns had the NFL’s best offensive line last season, and of course, a huge part of that success was the play of the three interior players; Joel Bitonio, J.C. Tretter, and Wyatt Teller. Bitonio is the longest-tenured player on the roster, Tretter hasn’t missed a snap as a member of the team, and Teller came out of nowhere to become one of the league’s very best guards in 2020.
Cleveland certainly understands the importance of protecting Baker Mayfield, and made that priority No. 1 last offseason. The group plays very well together, but the long-term outlook of the room is unclear.
Bitonio may be going on 30 years old, but he’s coming off arguably the best campaign of his career. He’s under contract for two more seasons, counting for essentially $10 million against the cap each year. He has no more guaranteed money on his deal, which could mean he’s a candidate for a restructure and extension, or a cut or trade.
What the Browns decide to do with Bitonio could have a lot to do with what happens regarding Teller. He will be playing on the final year of his rookie deal and thus eligible for an extension. He’s a one-year wonder at this point, but what a year it was. He was quite simply dominant as a run blocker, and the Cleveland run game struggled in the games he missed. Teller’s pass-blocking was inconsistent, but in no way was it bad.
When viewing the roster through a metric lens, guard is one of the least valuable positions, contributing little to points or wins. If Teller has another year like 2020, he could very well price himself out of the range that the Browns are willing to pay him, and they have a potential replacement for Teller (or Bitonio, or even Jack Conklin) on the roster in Drew Forbes, an elite athlete, and perfect scheme fit.
Tretter is one of the most important players on the roster, and is arguably the toughest player in the league. He has two years left on his deal, with little dead money remaining. He’s now 30 years old, and eventually, all those snaps and injuries he’s played through will catch up with him; it’s just a matter of when.
2020 fifth-round pick Nick Harris is small, but his elite movement skills make him a great fit in the Kevin Stefanski wide zone scheme. He will factor into the team’s plans, but so will the 2021 draft class.
Whether it’s a rookie starter or someone to take over in 2023, the Browns will likely be drafting an iOL relatively early in 2022.
2. EDGE
Myles Garrett is pretty good, but he’s never had a player who people could point to and say “there’s the long-term Robin to Garrett’s Batman”. With the loss of Olivier Vernon to an achilles injury, the chances of the Browns finding that Robin this offseason were fairly good. But a weak EDGE draft class and a free agency frenzy with cash flying left and right, much of it to players that may not have exactly deserved it.
General manager Andrew Berry did make some moves, signing Takk McKinley and Jadeveon Clowney to one-year deals. Both are likely to use this season as a springboard to a bigger long-term deal with another club, and neither Porter Gustin nor Curtis Weaver have the track record to be who the team is looking for.
It’s likely that the Browns will sign another stop-gap free agent next offseason to provide at least some quality rotational play, and also to protect against relying on a rookie to start. Garrett and Weaver are the only guys in the room who are under contract past this season, and Weaver isn’t assured a roster spot.
The 2022 EDGE class looks to be much more talented and deep, so Cleveland will probably dip in at some point over the first two days.
1. Wide receiver
If one were a betting man, placing cash on the Browns first pick in 2022 being a wide receiver seems to be fairly smart at this point. There’s a chance that the team could be replacing four guys in that room, with the only two mostly guaranteed to be on the 2022 roster are Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz, neither of whom are current starters.
There are personalities in the group that fans adore, but the fact is that Cleveland’s receivers have not performed to their pay. Only two teams in the league spend more on the position group; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Miami Dolphins. It remains to be seen how Miami will do, but the Buccaneers certainly get elite production out of their guys.
Both Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry must be more efficient with their targets, like how Rashard Higgins is. Higgins deserves a larger role and more money than he has gotten and will get with the two LSU buddies ahead of him on the depth chart.
Every WR class is loaded with great talent. The Browns have taken one in the sixth and third round over the past two seasons.
Adding a first-rounder to the young core is a good idea, and would allow the team to reallocate funds to more deserving players, whether they move on from one or both high-priced targets.