Andrew Berry said the Cleveland Browns are still weighing every option for the No. 6 pick in next week’s 2026 NFL Draft, with the team open to using its most valuable asset on a player, a trade for a veteran, or a move up or down the board. The Browns hold nine picks across the three days of the draft, and Berry said the club is “working through a number of different scenarios” before it goes on the clock Thursday night.
Berry said the team has researched trading up, trading down and moving around the board, but added that the organization’s mindset is not simply to give away its top asset. He said the goal is to maximize it, whether that means selecting a player, dealing the pick for a veteran, trading down or even trading up. “Next week’s an exciting week for the organization,” Berry said, adding that the draft is “the culmination of 13, 14 long months of hard work.”
The Browns enter the draft with two picks in the first round, including No. 6 and No. 24, plus No. 39 in Round 2, No. 70 in Round 3 and five picks between Rounds 4-7 on the third day. That gives Cleveland one of the more flexible boards in the draft, and it comes a year after the club again landed in the top 10, making this the second consecutive draft with a premium early selection.
That flexibility is why the No. 6 pick sits at the center of the Browns’ offseason plans. Berry said every draft class has good players, but that the first job at the top of the board is finding someone with the potential to be a quality starter or a difference-maker. He also said unique players are the hardest to acquire and that the draft remains one of the few chances to get them.
There is also a smaller but important wrinkle in the conversation around Cleveland’s first-round choices. NFL Network’s Cynthia Frelund identified five offensive linemen as possible fits for the Browns: Spencer Fano, Monroe Freeling, Markel Bell, Olaivavega Ioane and Keylan Rutledge. That is not a draft board in itself, but it does underline how many directions Cleveland can go if it keeps the pick.
The tension around the Browns is not whether Berry has options. It is how aggressively he is willing to use them. The team can draft a player, trade for help now or slide around the board in search of more value, and Berry said those possibilities will stay open until Thursday night. For a franchise holding two first-round picks and nine selections overall, the real story is how it chooses to spend the one that could shape the class.
