If you've ever seen a quarterback start off a game scorching hot, maybe 10 or 15 straight completions, you might recognize this feeling. It's like you're excited that the QB is dicing up the defense at the moment but you have this trepidation, because you know it can't last forever. You end up watching with agonizing anxiety for when the fun will come to an end.
That's how Browns fans feel watching Andrew Berry navigate this offseason. After passing the tests of free agency and the NFL Draft with flying colors, Berry couldn't just keep stacking quiet days until the season began. He opted instead to trade the franchise's likely best player ever, a decision he has cautioned against countless times in recent months. The pain is slightly numbed by the fact that the Browns received a sizable haul in return, headlined by the Los Angeles Rams' blue-chip EDGE rusher Jared Verse.
While the Browns were busy bringing chaos to the world, the Philadelphia Eagles were quietly executing a blockbuster of their own.
The deal had been months in the making, so there was not nearly as much shock and awe. Ask any football fan, and they'll tell you that A.J. Brown's been a member of the Patriots for a few months now. That's how open of a secret it was. In any case, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman (who mentored Andrew Berry before Berry's hiring in Cleveland) schooled the Patriots in a way Browns fans can only now dream of.
The Rams and Patriots had some similarities as trade buyers on paper. They each made the final four teams last year. Both saw very few defections from their respective rosters, instead making splashy additions via trade, free agency, and the draft. A fair case can be made that these teams are currently surging.
This inherently makes their 2027 draft capital less valuable, a development that wasn't lost on the Eagles' front office, as evidenced by their decision to opt for the Patriots' 2028 first-round pick rather than their next one.
The Browns made a massive gaffe in only getting the Rams' 2027 first-round pick — especially after the Rams strengthened their roster
In Northeast Ohio, however, they didn't get the memo. You can certainly make the case that the Browns should have demanded the Rams' first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. Most — outside of the six Rams fans at SoFi Stadium — would agree with that stance. (Kidding!) It's not what Andrew Berry demanded, though, and the addition of Jared Verse complicates any reasonable calculations. So, for now, Berry can get a pass as it relates to the sheer volume of first-round picks he fetched in return.
Accepting Los Angeles' 2027 first-round pick is where Andrew Berry lost me, though.
Before acquiring Myles Garrett, the Rams were already considered by many to be one of the league's best teams. They fell one game short of the Super Bowl in 2025, lost seemingly zero players in the offseason, and instead supplemented their roster with top-tier talent, including another first-round pick traded for a veteran in cornerback Trent McDuffie. All of this grouped together made them the betting favorite to be the NFC's representative in the Super Bowl.
After snatching Garrett from the Dawg Pound, the Rams' odds improved that much more. The Browns have no beef with the Rams, but it's fair to say that L.A. had the least-valuable first-round pick in 2027, at least at this juncture. The failure to insist on the first-round pick from the following year could come back to bite the Browns in a major way.
Let's say the Browns' worst-case scenario happens, and the Rams win it all. Fans will get to watch the best player Cleveland's ever had win a championship for another team, and the franchise will receive the 32nd pick in the draft for supplying the plane ticket. At least when you watch a horror movie, you get some thrills. That scene I just described has no high points — just pain. But wait, it gets worse.
Now, let's say Matthew Stafford accepts his Super Bowl MVP trophy, screeches that he's going to Disneyland and adds "and never coming back!" Then the Rams would be entering 2028 under the guidance of the much-maligned Ty Simpson in his pseudo-rookie season, no longer buoyed by superstar young players such as wide receiver Puka Nacua, edge rusher Byron Young, and offensive lineman Steve Avila on rookie deals.
It's been the accepted reality in the NFL for many moons that a pick today is worth more than one tomorrow. The logic is sound. Except when your trade partner is fresh off their third consecutive year of not knowing immediately whether their franchise QB would be giving it another go. All conventional wisdom points, bluntly, toward exploiting the Rams' expected downfall in 2028 when their roster has shed a few superstars.
Changes will be a'comin' in Ram Land. They're keenly aware of where they stand. That's precisely why they're all in at the flop. And the Browns could've been holding that 2028 first-round pick, just in case things go sideways. Instead, impatience bested competence, and Cleveland might've "Browns'd" again.
Yes, the Browns will have two first-round picks in the ballyhooed 2027 draft class. It might not matter if the Cardinals, Dolphins, or Jets win two games apiece and stage a blind pillow fight to determine the right to draft Arch Manning. Cleveland could've at least dangled a high-upside pick in 2028 in an effort to move up or held onto it. In actuality, most teams will scoff when that Rams pick is in the late 20s or 30s, and the Browns can easily be outbid by another QB-needy team. Maybe the football gods will do the unthinkable and things will break Cleveland's way for once.
Or maybe this purgatory will last forever.
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