The dust has settled on the first wave of 2026 free agency, and the Cleveland Browns are off to a strong start (as long as you’re into offensive linemen).
After ushering out an aging group led by Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, Ethan Pocic, and Jack Conklin, the Browns were aggressive in finding key replacements last week. But while the front five should definitely improve with Tytus Howard, Zion Johnson and Elgton Jenkins now in the mix, the offensive line remains among the team’s biggest roster needs entering the 2026 NFL Draft. Howard will turn 30 in May, and Jenkins is entering his age-30 season, so Cleveland’s work is far from finished at those positions.
With that said, the Browns have shelled out more new cash than fans expected, given their complicated salary cap situation. That was always a bit overblown, as Berry plays the cap game at a high level. But the team’s poor planning has it saddled with over $70 million in dead money this year, on top of an unmovable contract for Deshaun Watson that won’t be settled until 2027.
As always, there are some positives and negatives to discuss when it comes to the Browns’ offseason to date.
Biggest winners from the Browns’ early free agency
Browns QB room
Cleveland’s decision to pass on a bidding war with Miami to sign top free agent quarterback Malik Willis was an immediate win for Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel. At this point, the best free agent quarterbacks available are probably old, stop-gap veterans like Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins, so the Browns appear poised to roll with a training camp competition between Sanders, Watson, and a player to be named out of the 2026 draft class.
Insider Albert Breer stated that the Browns are essentially “punting” at the quarterback position, in his latest for Sports Illustrated over the weekend. That’s a bad look for the franchise, but it’s a clear win for Sanders. The second-year pro should get a real chance to win the starting job this summer.
Jerry Jeudy
After his extremely disappointing 2025 season, there was some early offseason buzz around Jeudy getting traded. If the Browns move him this summer, after June 1, they’ll save close to $4 million in 2026 cap space, per Over the Cap.
Cleveland’s lack of activity at receiver might've already taken that idea off the table. As expected, the Browns focused on revamping their offensive line as the top available wideouts like Alec Pierce, Mike Evans, Romeo Doubs, and Rashid Shaheed landed big-money deals. The Browns also passed on a potential high-upside trade target in Michael Pittman Jr., who landed with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Browns will likely leave April’s draft with at least one prominent wide receiver addition, but Jeudy’s standing as at least the team’s No. 2 wideout feels secure after the first wave of free agency.
Dawand Jones
The Browns were expected to be in on top left tackle prospect Rasheed Walker, but they surprisingly passed, even when his market cooled to the point of a major bargain. The Carolina Panthers just landed the former Green Bay Packers starter on a one-year, $10 million deal.
That’s a win for Jones, who’s expected to be ready for OTAs this spring following last year’s season-ending knee injury. Jones entered the 2025 season as Cleveland’s starter at left tackle. He should, at the very least, enter training camp with the first-team offense with some competition from a top prospect from this year's draft class.
Quinshon Judkins
Another Browns starter currently on the mend following a brutal, season-ending injury, Judkins has benefited as well as any player from Cleveland’s start to 2026.
After hiring a head coach in Todd Monken who prioritizes the run game, the Browns quickly went to work to add new enforcers along the offensive line. Judkins’ stellar rookie season ground to a halt over his final five games, averaging 2.8 yards per carry, so those improvements should be huge. His name also came up multiple times during Cleveland’s introductory press conferences for external free agents on Friday.
Assuming he can return to full health as expected, Judkins should be set up to feast in 2026.
Mike Rutenberg
Cleveland’s new defensive coordinator won the job this offseason thanks to his unique background in the four-down-linemen, wide-nine-attack defensive system, which Jim Schwartz deployed over the last three seasons. He was able to add a couple of his former guys to the roster over the past week.
The big name is Quincy Williams, the playmaking off-ball linebacker formerly of the New York Jets who the Browns signed to replace the departing Devin Bush. He spent three years working with Rutenberg and then head-coach Robert Saleh, and averaged nearly 120 tackles per year over that span.
The Browns also added some defensive line depth in Kalia Davis, who played in Saleh’s defense with the San Francisco 49ers in 2025.
The biggest losers from Cleveland’s offseason moves
Browns front office
GM Andrew Berry definitely deserves some credit. He’s currently leading the franchise through a coaching staff overhaul amid a tricky salary cap situation. The team has still managed to spend and slightly improve the roster during the early stages of the offseason.
But the team’s refusal to add competition at quarterback and wide receiver rightfully has fans on edge with the draft now just over a month away. The front office’s poor advanced planning also left the team with too many voiding contracts that could've been avoided.
The Browns still have levers to pull to create additional cap space and continue to improve the roster ahead of Monken’s first season. There’s a lot of work to be done, though, and while he’s off to a decent start, Berry’s offseason has been far from a win on balance so far.
Browns unrestricted free agents
Cleveland had a long list of pending unrestricted free agents this year. Most of their situations were complicated, with void years and planned releases structured into their contracts. Still, the only major Browns free agent who had a market during the NFL’s tampering period was Bush.
Bitonio officially became an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday, leaving behind $23.5 million in 2026 dead money, and his future remains a complete mystery. Teller reportedly had mutual interest in signing with the Houston Texans, but nothing came of that during the first week of negotiations. Tight end David Njoku, who Cleveland opted not to extend and so far has been replaced with Jack Stoll, a fringe player for the 53-man-roster at best, remained unsigned as of Sunday.
Aside from Bush, NFL executives aren’t exactly sprinting to the phones to sign the Browns’ top departures.