It's the dawn of a new era for the Cleveland Browns , and general manager Andrew Berry is already promising major roster chances on the offensive side of the football.
That obviously will come as no surprise to Browns fans. You could argue their 2025 Browns had the worst quarterback room, wide receiver group, and offensive line in the league.
Injuries and circumstance certainly played a role in Cleveland finishing the year ranked 31st in the NFL on offense. The cupboard on that side of the football was left bare , and mostly in the hands of rookies. There's no chance that Berry and new head coach Todd Monken take that same approach in 2026.
Cleveland's fortunate to have a young offensive core to build around, led by tight end Harold Fannin, quarterback Shedeur Sanders , wide receiver Isaiah Bond , and running backs Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson .
Berry's hits during the 2025 draft, including superstar linebacker Carson Schwesinger , have been well documented. He also had one major whiff, and his decision to pass on the offensive line all together last April has led to a precarious situation.
Browns fans have a lot of love for Njoku , and so does the whole organization. But there are no sacred cows in the NFL, and Njoku's contract situation is less than ideal.
Berry restructured Njoku's deal during the summer of 2023 to create salary cap space, adding four void years to his deal, per Over the Cap. His contract is thus scheduled to void at the start of the 2026 league year, carrying a dead cap charge of over $24 million.
Those charges would accelerate to Cleveland's 2026 cap number if the team opts to rip off the Band-Aid, and that feels like the prudent move here over an extension. Fannin's emergence as the team's top pass catcher makes Njoku's role expendable. The Browns would be better off relocating those funds to the O-line and wide receiver groups, rather than re-upping a veteran TE entering his age 30 season, as beloved as he may be.
The lack of chemistry between Sanders and No. 1 wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was painfully obvious in 2026, and with Sanders firmly in play to win Cleveland's QB1 job for 2026, the team should be seeking an exit plan from their $52 million letdown .
Jeudy had a Pro Bowl season in 2024 working with Jameis Winston , but it didn't do the Browns much good. They finished 3-14 that year, and Jeudy took a brutal step back in 2025 working with Cleveland's trio of quarterbacks. The overall lack of production wasn't completely on him, but the lack of efficiency was. Jeudy ranked 23rd in the NFL in targets, but was graded 72nd out of 81 qualifying wideouts by Pro Football Focus at the end of the season.
A post-June 1 trade would be the best outcome cap-wise, but regardless, Cleveland should be cutting bait with Jeudy this offseason.
Teller enjoyed an excellent run with Cleveland, but we've reached the final chapter. The team's decision to take Teller off the field in favor of Teven Jenkins late in the 2025 season kind of tells the whole story.
Teller's wife, Carly, took to social media following Kevin Stefanski's firing , and that speaks volumes on where he's currently at with the team. He's now battled through back-to-back injury-plagued seasons, and would be entering his age-32 season. Teller's contract situation is similar to Njoku's, set to void in 2026 with $19.4 million in dead-cap charges.
The Browns have a desperate need for young talent on the offensive line, and kicking the can down the road with Teller doesn't seem like it's on the table.
Conklin's in the same boat as Teller. His age (31), contract situation (voids in 2026), and injury history makes him a longshot for a new contract. The Browns hold the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, and they'll likely be eyeing the top offensive tackles on their board .
The top replacement for Conklin might already be on the Browns roster. Dawand Jones opened 2025 on the left side, but he excelled at right tackle with Ohio State. Berry ran it back with an aging O-line this past season and, again, he's highly unlikely to employ that strategy again.
Berry didn't crush every pick in that 2025 draft. Gabriel in the third round was a whiff, and he feels like a longshot to be on Monken's first 53-man roster. Cleveland is expected to add to its QB room, either in free agency or the draft. Sanders and Deshaun Watson figure to stay in the mix; that leaves Gabriel as the clear odd-man out.
The best-case scenario would be to ship Gabriel back to Stefanski and his new team, the Atlanta Falcons . Even if it's just a seventh-round draft pick, the Browns have to make a move here. It would be a brutal disservice to the fans if they enter 2026 with last year's subpar QB room fully intact.
This article was originally published on www.dawgpounddaily.com as 5 Browns players GM Andrew Berry has no business letting return in 2026 .
