Cleveland Browns

A crippling $99.0M dead-cap load (3rd-most in the league) squeezes this season hard, but $161.1M in projected room next year (2nd in the league) means the pain is temporary.

23 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Six starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Eleven picks in the current cycle and 26 across three years, headlined by four first-rounders, give Cleveland more rebuild ammunition than almost any team in the league.

• Acquired: Round 4 from Giants, this draft
• Acquired: Round 3 from Rams, the third draft
• Acquired: Round 2 from Rams, next draft
• Acquired: Round 1 from Rams, this draft
• Acquired: Round 4 from Seahawks, this draft
• Acquired: Round 7 from Texans, this draft
• Acquired: Round 5 from Texans, this draft
• Traded away: Round 7 to Rams, next draft
• Traded away: Round 6 to Texans, this draft

The roster's top strength is a stout and youthful linebacker and secondary core built around Ward, Schwesinger, and Verse, while the weakest spot on the entire depth chart is left edge, where Isaiah McGuire starts at just 73 overall and the position ranks last among all 32 teams.

• FShigh

  Emmanuel McNeil-Warren opens as the starter at 76 overall and ranks 27th among starting free safeties league-wide, making this a clear upgrade target.

• HBhigh

  Quinshon Judkins starts at 80 overall but the position ranks 31st at the starter level and 23rd in depth, signaling that the run game needs both a quality backup and long-term competition.

• LEDGEhigh

  Isaiah McGuire starts at 73 overall at a position that ranks dead last among 32 starters, making left edge the single most urgent need on the roster.

• QBhigh

  Deshaun Watson opens as the starter at just 74 overall and ranks 28th at the position, and with Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel behind him, finding a credible signal-caller is critical.

• WRhigh

  KC Concepcion Jr starts at 77 overall at a position that ranks 30th league-wide at starter level and 24th in depth, so the receiver room needs significant reinforcement beyond Jerry Jeudy.

• DTlow

  Mason Graham anchors this group at 82 overall and the depth ranks 9th league-wide, so this is a low-priority area needing only depth maintenance.

• RGlow

  Austin Barber starts at 76 overall but the depth chart ranks 2nd league-wide at this spot, so interior offensive line depth is a quiet strength worth preserving.

• 62Blake WhiteheartTEBlake Whiteheart sits third on both the TE and FB depth charts at just 62 overall, and releasing him frees $1.1M with zero dead money, making him a clean cap casualty with no downside.Frees $1.1M · $0 dead

Cleveland inherits a defense that is genuinely built to compete, anchored by the elite corner Denzel Ward, the ascending edge rusher Jared Verse, and a young linebacker core led by Carson Schwesinger and the versatile Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Mason Graham at 22 with Superstar dev is a foundational piece up front, and Spencer Fano at 21 gives the offensive line a long-term left tackle to build around. The problem is everything in front of those pieces on offense: Deshaun Watson is a 74-overall starter at quarterback, the wide receiver room ranks near the bottom of the league despite Jerry Jeudy's presence, and left edge is the weakest position on the entire roster. The cap situation is unusually constrained right now, with $99.0M in dead money currently the third-highest in the league, but that burden drops dramatically and next season's projected room of $161.1M, which is second in the league, opens a massive window to retool. The 23 expiring contracts this cycle and 11 draft picks in the near pipeline, including four first-rounders across the next three years, give the front office real leverage to rebuild the offense while protecting a defense that is already a year-one strength. Denzel Ward is a cornerstone but will need a clear succession path at corner as he moves deeper into his career, and Quincy Williams and Tytus Howard face similar timelines. The franchise's ceiling in the near term is dictated almost entirely by how quickly the quarterback and receiver questions get answered.

The Browns were founded in 1944 (organized in 1945) by taxicab magnate Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), beginning play in 1946 in Cleveland. Named after their first coach, the innovative Paul Brown, they were instantly dominant: quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley, and tackle-kicker Lou Groza led Cleveland to all four AAFC championships (1946-1949), including a perfect 15-0 season in 1948. Paul Brown pioneered modern coaching methods and, by signing Motley and Bill Willis in 1946, helped reintegrate professional football a year before Jackie Robinson debuted in baseball. When the AAFC folded, the Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and immediately won the NFL Championship, reaching the title game in each of their first six NFL seasons (1950-1955) and winning in 1950, 1954, and 1955. In 1957 the Browns drafted Jim Brown, who led the NFL in rushing in eight of nine seasons and retired as the all-time rushing leader. Owner Art Modell bought the team in 1961 and controversially fired Paul Brown before 1963; under Blanton Collier, the Browns won their fourth and most recent NFL championship in 1964. After Jim Brown's 1966 retirement, the team declined but revived with the "Kardiac Kids" of 1979-80 behind MVP quarterback Brian Sipe and again with Bernie Kosar leading three AFC Championship Game appearances in the late 1980s. In 1995 Modell announced relocation to Baltimore; the settlement created the Baltimore Ravens as a new franchise in 1996 while the Browns' name, colors, and history stayed in Cleveland for a reactivated team that returned in 1999. Since then the franchise has been defined by instability and losing: just three playoff appearances (2002, 2020, 2023), one playoff win, a franchise-scarring 0-16 season in 2017, and a revolving door at quarterback.