Browns NFL draft plans: No right way to return to glory

Depending on how things play out the rest of the 2025 NFL season, the Cleveland Browns could be selecting with the top pick in the 2026 NFL draft. QB Arch Manning will not be there to solve the team’s quarterback problems, but the Browns will have a lot of draft capital to fill the needs on their roster.

They may also need a new head coach and, less likely, a new front office.

The discussion for Cleveland fans is about the plan to return to the glory days of old for the team. Some believe that the Browns have to get a quarterback at the top of the 2026 NFL draft. Others say that Cleveland has to build a team, especially on the offensive line and in the receiver room, so that a new quarterback can be successful.

The arguments on both sides make sense

Browns have to draft a QB high in the 2026 NFL draft

• Quarterback is the most important position in football
• Most top quarterbacks are drafted in the top half of the NFL draft, mostly in the Top 10
• Cleveland cannot assume they will ever be this bad again in the next couple of seasons, especially if draft capital is spent well on other positions
• The Browns have an extra first-round pick, as well as extra draft capital overall, to move up for their preferred QB
• Good quarterback play raises the play of the line and receivers around them
• Cleveland’s best two QBs since The Return were both selected at the top of the draft

Browns have to build their O-Line, WR groups first

• Memories of Tim Couch trying to play without a good line
• Watching Joe Burrow get crushed without a line
• Young QBs, no matter how good, need protection and weapons to develop properly
• Top left tackles are mostly taken near the top of the draft
• Top receivers are almost always first or second-round picks
• The 2027 NFL draft class of QBs is expected to be much better

The reality is, there is no right way to build. The key is making the right decisions at the most important positions in football. It is one of the reasons that the 2025 NFL draft class, while great, isn’t a game-changer for the team. It lacks any certainty at the most important/premium positions in football: QB, WR, LT, DE, CB.

In the end, variables will likely determine what Cleveland does in the 2026 NFL draft. If they have a top pick and a quarterback with a high grade is available, most likely Fernando Mendoza or Dante Moore, they will pick the quarterback. If they fall out of a top pick or do not have a high grade on the quarterbacks available, the Browns will likely build the roster around Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, Dillon Gabriel, and whoever else will make up the quarterback room in 2026.

Whether Cleveland ends up drafting a...