How Browns GM Andrew Berry is approaching 2026 NFL Draft

BEREA, Ohio — In just a few short days, the Cleveland Browns will be on the clock in the 2026 NFL Draft. Last year was full of success for Cleveland, with nearly every draft selection the team made turning into major contributors on the field throughout the season.

This year, the Browns have clear needs and two first-round picks, in addition to seven other selections scheduled to be made by the organization next week. Will they use their early picks to add a much-needed wide receiver? Will they continue rebuilding the offensive line, which they've addressed heavily already through free agency and trade?

General manager Andrew Berry held his pre-draft media availability on Thursday and answered a slew of questions about positions of need, potential to trade up or down, possibilities of adding another quarterback and more.

Here's what Berry had to say about it all.

On trading down from pick No. 6

• “I’d go back to what I’ve said in the past, our mindset going into the draft, with our most valuable asset, isn’t about, ‘Hey, just trade it away.’ It’s maximizing the asset. And that can, at different times, take different forms. It can be selecting a player, it could be trading it for a veteran, it could be trading down, it could be trading up. We will continue to work through all those possibilities up until, really, we get on the clock on Thursday night. But I’d say we’re working through a number of different scenarios at this point.”
  
• “I love how everybody last year thought we weren’t trading down and everybody this year assumes we are. I'd say this every year is unique because the players change, your pick location changes, demand, you know, may change. So, I’d say the general answer to your question is yes, the dynamics are different. But even if we were picking two again this year, I’d give you the same answer.”

On if trading up is realistic

• “I think probably in every draft there’s always someone who it’s realistic to trade up for unless you have the first pick. I think oftentimes though, what’s associated with that is, it’s not just, ‘Hey, do I like that player enough to trade up for him’, it’s what’s the cost, what’s the acquisition cost? And so, I think that’s a hard question to answer without having kind of both sides of it, but that’s certainly a possibility.”

On the philosophy of best player available vs. targeting specific positions

• “It doesn’t change the focus because every team has needs. And you know, like last year at this point, I wouldn’t have assumed that our first two picks would have been a three-technique and an off-the-ball linebacker. And the good thing is, like I say this every year, every draft class has good players. And the first order of business is to get players that you think have the potential to be a quality starter or a difference maker, particularly when you’re picking high. And I’d say the other thing is ultimately you want unique players when you’re picking this high because they’re not difficult to identify, but they’re very difficult to acquire. And the draft is one of those opportunities. So I think oftentimes the public discourse on the draft focuses on need, as if NFL teams go into the draft and say, ‘Hey, look, I’m just going to pick the best this player, this player because that’s how our roster looks today.’ When the reality of it is these players, they’re longer-term investments for your organization.”

On the talent in the 2026 Draft class

• “I think it’s a good class. I think probably in most years you probably have around, however people want to categorize their first-round grades, probably, maybe anywhere from 18 to 20, something along those lines. So I don’t think that’s necessarily an anomaly. I also think that we’re all probably colored by the prism of our positioning within the draft, whether you’re picking high, maybe what some of the positions you’d like to have come to you in the draft. We’re all probably colored by that perspective in terms of how you view the draft. But I think there are really good players throughout this year’s class. I think it’s a good group there.”

On appraoch to decide the level of aggressiveness at quarterback in a draft

• “I mentioned earlier, for us, it ends up being kind of a 13 or 14-month process. We always want to have some level of visibility into next year’s draft class. And that’s not just at quarterback, that’s across positions. Because that can have some strategic implications in terms of how you try to position yourself in the present year. That being said, there is a lot of noise with that type of projection, right? And I think mentioning the quarterback position, a year ago where some of maybe the top reported names are relative to where we are today, that looks a lot different. So, while that can factor in...it’s not with necessarily a high, strongly convicted degree of certainty, but to be completely ignorant of it is something that we don’t believe in doing."

On Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love

• “Yeah, he’s special. You think about some of the, let’s say, dual-threat backs that the league has had. You know, obviously, Christian McCaffrey may be the poster child for that. Jahmyr Gibbs may be, kind of the next generation of that. Jeremiyah certainly has a lot of those abilities and capabilities. He’s a very dynamic prospect.”
  
• “I think that in Jeremiyah’s case, I think the way that you can deploy him is – it’s a lot different than other players at the position and specifically what he can do in the passing game. So he’s a pretty special, unique prospect.”

On Ohio State WR Carnell Tate and Arizona State University WR Jordyn Tyson

• “They’re both excellent players. They both have size. They both can separate, good hands. Obviously, Carnell, if he’s not an NFL receiver, he probably could be a trapeze artist with how acrobatic he is and Jordyn’s an excellent creator with the ball in his hands. So, they’re two excellent, excellent prospects.”

On why they haven't picked a receiver high since he's been GM

• “I think it’s not a philosophical thing. I think if you look back over the last several years, first couple years, we already had Odell (Beckham Jr.) and Jarvis (Landry), on the team, and were paying both of them. When we transitioned away from both, we spent a fifth-round pick on Amari (Cooper) and we had him at a sizable number. And then when we traded Amari, we traded for Jerry (Jeudy). So I think it’s not necessarily just this in a vacuum, ‘Hey, do you spend a first-round pick at a position?' It’s like, 'Okay, what’s the actual resource expenditure?’ Because if it’s a fifth-round pick and a major extension, that’s a pretty significant resource. I think maybe to your broader question of how do you think about the position relative to how expensive it’s gotten, I think a big factor is, who are the players and what’s the supply at the position in a given year and then how are you positioned with your pick? Would have no problem taking a receiver high, would have no problem taking a receiver at any point in the draft. But it’s got to line up strategically with what you’re doing.”

On his overall view of this class of offensive linemen

• "I think every player is unique. I think certainly it’s a good offensive line group. I think, as you know, look, some players that are, and we see this every year, but some players that are college tackles may move inside just because of their physical characteristics, whether it’s athleticism or length or something along those lines. Some have multi-aligned inside, outside, some have lined up on both sides of the line of scrimmage. So you really do take it case by case because I don’t think there’s necessarily a one-size-fits-all rule.”
  
• “I’ve said this before. You know, tackles are tackles. You’re looking for certain characteristics because they’ve all got to be able to protect on an edge. You know, top rushers are not staying one side of the ball. So we really do analyze it within the aggregate position.”

On the likelihood of drafting a quarterback

• “Yeah, I think it’s possible. I think it’s possible that we could, I mean, quite frankly, it’s possible that we could add to any position. That’s really the truth. And I wouldn’t disqualify quarterback either. No.”

On Alabama QB Ty Simpson

• "We’ve enjoyed the time that we’ve spent with Ty – son of a coach, really smart, very driven, he’s physically talented. He has a very unique college journey, in terms of coming in as a five-star and then really having to wait his turn behind two pretty talented quarterbacks in Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe before getting his chance under center. And he did a great job maximizing it. So, we’ve really enjoyed our time with Ty.”

How adding a QB could impact the current room with Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Deshaun Watson

• “I’d say I don’t love dealing in hypotheticals. So, I guess I’d say this, if we add a quarterback, we have a lot of love for the quarterbacks that are in the room, that’s probably the first thing. So that decision would be made independently of anything that we add to the room.”

On the potential to trade a current veteran player

• “You have a bunch of trade discussions throughout the weekend and everything like that, so I couldn’t handicap anything as we sit here today. In terms of our guys or what we do, I’d say we’ll do anything that can help the team, move the roster forward, but I think that’s much less likely, yeah.”

On Ohio State safety Caleb Downs

• “He’s an excellent player and an excellent kid. I think you’ve seen with us and you’ve seen really across the league that you’re really transitioning from a league where you had either four defensive linemen and three off the ball linebackers or really five down and two off the ball linebackers to a three safety league where you have these safeties that are these hybrid defenders. Kyle Hamilton’s obviously the one that we see every year. You can look at what Nick Emmanwori did as a rookie in Seattle for Mike Macdonald and those guys provide a lot of value because they’re really these multi-positions, or we think about positionless basketball. You’re getting to this point where you have this positionless defensive philosophy in the NFL. So, I think that position is certainly gaining value. That’s something that we’ve deployed very often as well.”

On LG Joel Bitonio still weighing his future and decision to retire or return

• "Joel has been a foundational player for the organization. He’s everything that we could have asked as a Brown. He needs to make the decision on his own timeline, just simple as that. And like he’s earned that right. He will have that right. We’ll be ready either way.”