With the draft complete here are my day two, https://clesportstalk.com/day-two-recap/ and day three, https://clesportstalk.com/day-three-recap/ recaps for the Browns. As for the players drafted CB Martin Emerson is a scheme fit, he played mostly cover 2 and cover 3 at Mississippi State. Defensive linemen Alex Wright, Perrion Winfrey and Isaiah Thomas were for depth. I could see Winfrey starting and Wright and Thomas as key rotational players. WR David Bell will take over in the slot and excel. He catches everything, a 4.7% career drop rate. Kicker Cade York was the best kicker in the draft and he’s now the Browns starting kicker. RB Jerome Ford is a future pick because Kareem Hunt and D’Ernest Johnson are not signed past 2022. Johnson might not make the team. WR Micheal Woods and C Dawson Deaton are practice squad players.
Looking over the rookie undrafted free agents, three players stand out, DT Glen Logan, WR Isaiah Weston and CB Shaun Jolly. Browns GM Andrew Berry has been successful in the past finding UDFAs. I don’t put much stock in draft grades. The Browns pre-draft roster was very talented to start with, so the Browns were drafting for the depth and the future. That’s what consistently good teams try to achieve. Some Browns fans were complaining about no star players added and the drafting of a kicker. As for the star players, there were none in this draft and as for the kicker, last year the Browns kicker missed seven of his last eleven field goals in 2021. I’m glad to see the Browns addressing the glaring need to improve one of the worst special teams in the NFL. I still think the Browns will resign DE Jadeveon Clowney, a veteran defensive tackle and possibly a veteran wide receiver.
The other news from the draft was the trade of CB Troy Hill and the possible trade of QB Baker Mayfield. The Rams inquired as to his availability and the Browns pulled the trigger. Hill now feels he’s been disrespected because he was traded for a fifth-round pick. WR Amari Cooper was in essence traded for a fifth-round pick and I don’t hear him complaining. I’m told the Mayfield trade never got as serious as had been reported. Carolina tried to make it sound like the Browns didn’t want to pay any of Mayfield’s contract. No one knows what was asked for and what was offered. If Carolina asked for $16.5 million of the $18.9 million to be paid by the Browns, I wouldn’t do that trade either. I would do anywhere between $ 8 to $12 million and a 2023 conditional draft pick. My hair isn’t on fire like most the fanbase and the local media about Mayfield. Andrew Berry has a number and compensation in mind, and he’ll stick to that plan. He won’t be released, and he won’t be kept on the roster to start for Watson if he is suspended. I still don’t think there will be a suspension in 2022 if no cases go to court and he doesn’t settle.
The Browns now have eight picks in the 2023 draft due to two trades this weekend. One second, one third, two fourths, two fifths, one sixth and one seventh. Teams that want make the playoff’s every year try to go into a draft with nine to twelve picks. Pick up a 2023 for Mayfield and they’re there. I was happy with Andrew Berry’s third draft because I consider QB Deshaun Watson as their first-round pick. I’ll take a top five QB for the next five years every day of the week. Everyone stay safe and Go Browns.