Cleveland Browns need to be open to trading picks in 2023 NFL Draft

The Cleveland Browns have eight draft picks from the third round through the seventh in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft. It would be wise to trade some of these picks to either move up a bit in the draft order or to fall back and take some potential future picks in the years ahead. General Andrew Berry has done plenty of maneuvering in the past and it shouldn't be a surprise to see this again when the draft begins Thursday from Kansas City.

One year ago, Berry traded away the No. 44 pick to the Houston Texans to acquire picks No. 68, 108, and 124. With that 68th pick, the team selected cornerback Martin Emerson, who had a very good rookie campaign for the Orange and Brown squad.

Browns have solid roster depth

The Browns have managed to put together a pretty talented roster on paper, especially after several solid free-agent signings. They picked up defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, safety Juan Thornhill and defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo. Cleveland also traded for wide receiver Elijah Moore.

All this is to suggest that the Browns probably don't need to draft eight players this go around. Maybe instead they should look to trade up or back and concentrate on three or four talented prospects that they have fallen in love with in the lead-up to the draft.

My colleague Randy Gurzi of DPD, suggested in a recent article that the team might try and package a few picks to go up and get linebacker Trenton Simpson from Clemson. Having Simpson play alongside current Cleveland linebacker Jeremiah Owusa-Koramoah seems like a good fit, according to Gurzi.

They could also trade away some picks, move back and still get some really good players. We'll explore a few of those players in just a moment.

Cleveland could also collect some future picks. The Browns will be faced with some tough decisions on some current veterans with Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb, and Amari Cooper will all looking to get new deals in the near future. Will the Browns bring these players back? Stockpiling draft picks is never a bad idea with these big decisions upcoming.

A lot of talent in this year's draft

There are many positional spots in this draft that are really deep including secondary, linebacker, and running back. So, with Cleveland trading picks and moving back, there would still be plenty of talent for the team to select from.

I wrote an article recently about some college prospects at the secondary positions that would be good mid to late-round additions. Those players include cornerback Myles Brooks from Louisiana Tech and Jartavius Martin a safety and cornerback from Illinois. At the running back spot, there are numerous players that might be available to the team including Keaton Mitchell of East Carolina and Deuce Vaughn of Kansas State.

At the linebacker spot, there are numerous players that the Browns could choose from. I'm hoping they give Karl Brooks, an edge/linebacker player from Bowling Green a good look. He had a stellar career as a Falcon and While he didn't play against the best competition in the Mid-American Conference, there have been great NFL players emerge from that league — including Khalil Mack, who came from the University at Buffalo.

Whatever the organization actually does over the course of the draft will not be known for a few more days but it will likely include some picks being moved around. We've seen it before, and we will likely see it again. The team has built a stronger roster in recent years because of this strategy and that's something all Browns fans can be happy about.