Updated Browns draft picks after Amari Cooper traded to Bills
Next year, the Cleveland Browns will have a first round pick for the first time since 2021. This was the result of its trade for QB Deshaun Watson, which saw them ship off first and third rounders between 2022 and 2024. In addition, the team also committed $230 million to Watson when signing him to a long term deal with the team, adding another dimension to what is shaping up to be one of the worst trades in NFL history.
That all said, the draft capital that the Browns got back for Amari Cooper in its trade with the Buffalo Bills stands significant as it now has its first round pick, third rounder, and Buffalo's third rounder in the draft next year. Additionally, Cleveland received a 7th round pick in 2026, adding even more to its cache of picks it desperately needs to utilize next year.
Starting 1-5 this season has allowed for the Cooper trade to go down, and now, the Browns are working with a solid pool of picks moving forward. As of now, here is where that pool stands for 2025.
2025 Cleveland Browns Draft Picks
- First round pick
- Second round pick
- Third round pick (own)
- Third round pick (via BUF)
- Fourth round pick
- No fifth (Za'Darius Smith deal)
- Sixth round pick (own)
- Sixth round pick (via DET)
- Sixth round pick (via MIN)
- Sixth round pick (via CHI)
- Two seventh round picks for departure of LB Sione Takitaki and TE Harrison Bryant
The upcoming NFL Draft is fairly deep, with quarterbacks like Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders highlighting the first round. Should Cleveland decide to bench Watson and eat the dead cap hit, this is a rookie class full of potential at QB. Several mock drafts have the Browns taking a defensive lineman early in the first round, though, which is head scratching logic. The D-line is one of its strengths, and assuming the team's front office does whatever it needs to do to keep its defensive core together, drafting a young defender who would not even play makes no sense.
Outside of quarterbacks, the upcoming draft is also full of potential at wide receiver. Travis Hunter, a dual threat as a CB and WR, should be a target for Cleveland if the team continues to lose and ends up with a second overall pick. Even that may not be high enough to snatch Hunter, though, so someone like Luther Burden III out of Mizzou or Tre Harris out of Arizona State could be other, lower positioned skill players to aim for if you are Cleveland.
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