Which 5 Cleveland Browns would be protected in an expansion draft

If the NFL were to add a new team and have an expansion draft, which 5 players would be the first protected by the Cleveland Browns?

An interesting question was posed by the NFL Network on their official Twitter account when they asked which five players you would protect on your team if the NFL had an expansion draft.

This hasn’t taken place since 2002 when the Houston Texans joined the league, but still, it’s a fun practice and it’s not that easy to do with the current Cleveland Browns roster.

Cleveland is suddenly loaded with talent, which makes it incredibly difficult to pick which players should be protected in such an instance.

https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/1418677299122249734?s=20

Still, we will try and answer this question by picking the top five players on the Browns roster to protect the case of an expansion draft.

5. Jedrick Wills, Jr.

As it stands right now, the Browns have one of the best — if not the best — offensive lines in the entire league. Jedrick Wills, Jr. might not be the focal point of that line, but he still played the most important position last season as a rookie, left tackle.

Entering 2021, there could be a legitimate case for any member of this line to be protected with J.C. Tretter and Joel Bitonio playing at a high level along with Jack Conklin and Wyatt Teller who were arguably among the best at their positions in the NFL in 2020.

However, Browns fans saw how difficult life was without a left tackle following the retirement of Joe Thomas before the 2018 season. Wills helped solidify that position once again and he should be even better going forward.