General manager Andrew Berry has been lauded for the Cleveland Browns’ draft execution, especially over the past two seasons. The Browns have selected 17 players since 2025, and it’s not a stretch to project half of them as Week 1 starters for 2026.
But there’s a clear blind spot in Berry’s draft history that’s impossible to ignore, and the ripple effect could be felt during Todd Monken’s first training camp as head coach.
Browns fans have high hopes for rookie offensive linemen Spencer Fano, Austin Barber, and Parker Brailsford this year, and the pressure on that trio couldn't be higher. Berry’s track record with drafting tackles, centers, and guards has been mostly a net zero over his six-plus years as GM, and the team could be experiencing some major depth chart deficiencies as a result.
Cleveland's offensive line overhaul could leave the pipeline dangerously thin
Of Berry’s 54 total draft selections since 2020, 10 have been offensive linemen. Six remain on Cleveland’s training camp roster: Dawand Jones, Zak Zinter, Luke Wypler, and the three 2026 rookies.
In a perfect world, at least two of those three returning veteran linemen would have developed into locked-in starters. That’s not the case for Cleveland, as Zinter, Wypler, and Jones are all much closer to the roster bubble than the starting lineup entering camp.
Browns reporter Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN recently dropped his initial 53-man roster projection, and both Zinter and Wypler were among his most notable casualties. And while Jones was among Oyefusi’s nine O-linemen to make the team, it’s worth noting that the Browns recently restructured his contract, essentially blocking the $3.67 million base salary he earned through the NFL’s proven performance escalator system based on playing time.
But that $3.67 million salary was non-guaranteed. Jones instead agreed to a reworked deal with a fully-guaranteed base salary of $1.15 million, a clear sign that both the player and the team wanted to avoid Jones getting waived ahead of training camp for cash and cap purposes.
Jones is also coming off his third season-ending injury in as many years. The Browns are likely planning to move on in 2027 after adding a pair of rookie tackles in Fano and Barber.
Cleveland’s starting offensive line in 2026 should be more than respectable, with Fano being groomed as the team’s left tackle of the future. The other four spots are expected to be manned by veteran players in right tackle Tytus Howard, left guard Zion Johnson, center Elgton Jenkins, and right guard Teven Jenkins.
But with Zinter and Wypler among this summer’s potential cut candidates, and other fringe or lower-tier starters like Jones and Teven Jenkins entering contract years, the Browns could find themselves scrambling for offensive line help once again next offseason. They have a chance to field one of the NFL’s youngest overall rosters in 2026, but their offensive line group will feature two starters over the age of 30 in Howard and Elgton Jenkins, with next to no young talent in the pipeline outside of players drafted in 2026 and beyond.
It’s not an ideal situation. The Browns may wave the white flag on homegrown talent like Zinter, Wypler, or even Jones this summer. And if they don’t get immediate returns from Fano and this year’s rookie class, the long-term outlook of their offensive line rebuild could be a lot less healthy than it seems.
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