Andrew Berry tried to replicate the Amari Cooper formula with Jerry Jeudy. He hoped that trading for a former first-round pick would give him a suitable No. 1 wide receiver for at least a couple of years, even giving him a three-year, $52.5 million contract before he played a single snap for the team.
Jeudy had some flashes in his first year in Cleveland, mostly after the Browns traded Cooper and Jameis Winston took the reins of the offense. With Cooper no longer on the roster, he entered last season as the clear-cut WR1, and to say that he failed to live up to the task would be a massive understatement.
That's why, now that the Browns will likely take at least one wide receiver in the first round of the NFL Draft, their next roster moves might say a lot about how they truly feel about Jeudy going forward.
Why Jerry Jeudy might be on borrowed time with the Browns
As currently constructed, the Browns' wide receiver room consists of Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Isaiah Bond, Jamari Thrash, Luke Floriea, Malachi Corley, Gage Larvadain, Isaiah Wooden, and Tylan Wallace. The Browns are hoping that Bond can take a leap in Year 2, but Tillman is constantly hurt, and the rest of the guys are mostly there for depth or special teams purposes.
The Browns have pick Nos. 6 and 24 in the upcoming NFL Draft. They have nine total selections, four of which are inside the top 100, and with a pressing need at wide receiver, it wouldn't be a surprise to see GM Andrew Berry add multiple players at the position by the end of April.
If Cleveland does take two pass-catchers early, Jeudy could immediately become expendable. The Browns are high on Bond, and they're not going to give up on him after he didn't even have a proper training camp as a rookie. There are only so many roster spots, and they will probably give their rookies as many touches as they can handle, assuming they go that route.
That could also be the case if they trade for someone right before or after the NFL Draft. Guys like Chris Godwin, Chris Olave, or Brian Thomas Jr. make perfect sense for Todd Monken's team, and with one or two rookies, plus Bond, there would be no need to keep Jeudy on the roster.
According to Pro Football Focus, Jeudy dropped nine passes last season, posting a drop rate of 15.3 percent. That's the third time in six years that he's had a drop rate in the double digits.
Cutting Jeudy with a post-June 1 designation would only result in a manageable $2 million dead cap hit, according to Over the Cap. The Browns can also try to trade him, which would create $3.8 million in cap space, but there might not be much of a market for Jeudy right now.
Whatever the case, one thing is painfully evident: The Browns can't afford to roll into next season with Jerry Jeudy as their WR1. He may still have a role on the team in 2026, but the team's need to add more talent and competition to the mix is undeniable entering the draft.