For the first time in a while, there’s some offseason optimism surrounding the Cleveland Browns. The decision to hire offensive guru Todd Monken as head coach has fans intrigued, and with elite capital in the 2026 NFL Draft, including two first-round picks and three selections inside the top 40, there’s at least a feeling of hope that this could be the year where things take a positive turn.
Perhaps the biggest reason for optimism is the early returns of Cleveland’s 2025 draft class. It was easily Andrew Berry’s best as the Browns’ general manager. This year’s team should be led by young players like Carson Schwesinger, Mason Graham, Harold Fannin Jr., and Quinshon Judkins. We could also soon add Shedeur Sanders’ name to that list, behind the team's longtime vets like Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward.
Browns fans can only hope that positive trend continues in this year’s draft, starting with pick No. 6 overall. Cleveland’s draft history, from the balance of Berry’s six years and beyond, is littered with blunders, and a peek back at the last decade reveals at least one palm-in-the-face whiff in each rookie class.
The Browns can’t afford to repeat these draft mistakes in 2026
2025: Dillon Gabriel - QB (Round 3, No. 94 overall)
Overall, this was the best draft class of the Andrew Berry-Kevin Stefanski era, but the decision to double down with a pair of dart-throw quarterbacks in Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders remains the easiest second-guess. Spending a top-100 pick on Gabriel is especially painful when you consider a pair of NFL-ready safeties, Xavier Watts and Craig Woodson, were right there for the taking. The Browns will likely be searching for safety depth in this year’s draft while Gabriel enters training camp on the fringe of the 53-man roster.
2024: Michael Hall Jr. - DT (Round 2, No. 54 overall)
Hall served a five-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy during his rookie season, and he’s never gotten his pro career on track after suffering a brutal knee injury during the Browns’ 2024 season finale. He was limited to just 178 defensive snaps in 2025 as a result. Year 3 could make or break the Browns’ first selection in the 2024 draft.
2023: Siaki Ika - DT (Round 3, No. 98 overall)
Ika’s short-lived Browns tenure was a head-scratcher. He barely saw 100 defensive snaps as a rookie and then failed to make the 53-man roster in Year 2. Cleveland clearly saw enough to cut its losses on Ika. He spent a short stint with the Kansas City Chiefs but is currently in the UFL playing for the Dallas Renegades.
2022: Perrion Winfrey - DT (Round 4, No. 108 overall)
Winfrey was suspended for the second game of his rookie season for undisclosed disciplinary issues, and that wound up setting an unfortunate tone for a player the Browns selected just outside the top 100. Several off-field incidents followed, with the final straw coming right around the start of training camp in 2023 after Winfrey was named as a suspect in an aggravated robbery incident.
2021: Anthony Schwartz - WR (Round 3, No. 91 overall)
The Browns took a shot on Schwartz’s elite athleticism and speed on Day 2 of the 2021 draft, but he wound up flaming out. Hamstring and concussion issues made it hard for him to stay on the field, and he had a brutal time catching the football when he was on it. His inability to click with quarterback Baker Mayfield was painfully obvious by the time he was released in 2023, and he hasn’t played an NFL snap since.
2020: Jacob Phillips - LB (Round 3, No. 97 overall)
Phillips showed flashes of promise during his three seasons in Cleveland, starting eight games, but injuries crushed his NFL career about as soon as it started. Following a season-ending pec injury in 2022, he was battling for a roster spot in 2023 when he suffered another pec injury in a preseason game that required surgery, effectively ending his Browns tenure.
2019: Greedy Williams - CB (Round 2, No. 46 overall)
Williams appeared poised to be a long-term starter for the Browns before suffering nerve damage in his shoulder, ending his second season as a pro. Injuries continued to slow his development, and the team wound up turning to Denzel Ward and Greg Newsome II at cornerback after making Newsome the No. 26 overall pick in the 2021 draft. Williams has since bounced around from NFL practice squads to the UFL.
2018: Austin Corbett - LT (Round 2, No. 33 overall)
GM John Dorsey selected Corbett with a premium pick — the first selection of Day 2 — but he was buried on the depth chart behind some established vets during his rookie season, and didn’t gain any traction during Freddie Kitchens' one-year tenure as head coach of the Browns in 2019. The Browns tried Corbett at tackle, guard, and center before mercifully cutting bait in a trade with the Rams for a fifth-round pick. He wound up playing 15 total snaps in his 22 games with the Browns.
2017: DeShone Kizer - QB (Round 2, No. 52 overall)
Why are the Browns commonly referred to as the NFL’s most dysfunctional franchise? See the DeShone Kizer debacle of 2017. Kizer opened that season as Cleveland’s starter as a second-round rookie and clearly wasn’t ready. He wound up starting 15 games during an 0-16 regular season. He finished the year with 11 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions, and was quickly traded to the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
2016: Corey Coleman - WR (Round 1, No. 15 overall)
The Browns traded up for Coleman during the 2016 draft, and in the early goings, they seemed to have the dynamic playmaker they needed to lead them into the future. But hand injuries ruined hot starts to each of his first two years in the league, and by 2018, he was requesting a trade. Cleveland bit the bullet and shipped him to Buffalo in exchange for a mere seventh-round pick.