Another rough season spelled the end of the Kevin Stefanski era in Cleveland, and Todd Monken takes over as head coach ahead of the new season. That wasn't the only seismic change for the Browns, though. Cleveland also traded reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and rebuilt its entire offensive line.
Here is our 2026 preview for the Cleveland Browns.
Key Free Agency/Trade Additions
Position Player 2025 PFF Grade OT Tytus Howard 62.3 G Teven Jenkins 77.7 G Zion Johnson 56.7 C Elgton Jenkins 62.0 EDGE Jared Verse 80.8 LB Quincy Williams 45.5The Browns' biggest move of the offseason came after the NFL draft, when they traded edge defender Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams for two first-round picks, a third-round pick and edge defender Jared Verse.
There's an obvious drop-off from Garrett to Verse — Garrett is coming off a season in which he broke the NFL's single-season sack record — but Verse is no slouch off the edge. He has earned PFF pass-rush grades above 80.0 in each of his first two NFL seasons. He is also just 25 years old and possesses one of the most devastating bull rushes in football.
Four new starters arrived along the offensive line in free agency, too. Teven Jenkins has missed time with injuries throughout his career, and no one else in the group earned a PFF grade above 65.0 last year, though none fell below 55.0. Cleveland is aiming to get the line back to average after two of its starters posted PFF grades below 55.0 in 2025.
2026 NFL Draft Class
Position Player 2025 PFF Grade OT Spencer Fano 83.9 WR KC Concepcion 78.4 WR Denzel Boston 88.0 S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren 91.9 OT Austin Barber 83.5 C Parker Brailsford 65.5 LB Justin Jefferson 67.7 TE Joe Royer 59.8 QB Taylen Green 82.5 TE Carsen Ryan 81.8If there was a theme to the first three picks of the Browns' draft class, it was creating a stronger future environment for a quarterback. Spencer Fano earned PFF grades of 92.6 and 83.9 in his final two seasons at Utah and looks set to slot straight in at left tackle as a rookie. Concepcion and Boston represent different types of receivers: Concepcion averaged 7.2 yards after the catch per reception, while Boston caught 76.9% of his contested targets last year.
McNeil-Warren was a star at Toledo and is coming off his best season, as he earned a 92.0 PFF coverage grade in 2025. He allowed just six receptions on plays where he was the primary coverage defender and came away with two interceptions and five pass breakups.
Reasons for optimism
When looking for optimism with the Browns, it's probably fair to look more to the future. That's why the Myles Garrett trade made sense for Cleveland: it got a younger edge defender in return. While Verse might never reach Garrett's peak, there's a reasonable chance he will be the more impactful player by the time this roster is in a position to compete.
It was an impressive draft class for Cleveland, which landed four of the top 35 players on the final PFF predictive draft board. With the additional first-round picks from the Garrett trade, the Browns have the chance to keep building.
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Read the QB Annual (opens in new tab)Get PFF+ (opens in new tab)Reason for pessimism
The loss of Garrett means it's entirely possible that the Browns' roster is worse than the one that went 5-12 last season. There is talent here, but much of it lacks experience at crucial positions, and Cleveland could wind up fielding seven offensive starters who have no more than one year of NFL experience.
Then there's the quarterback problem. Shedeur Sanders earned a 44.1 PFF grade as a rookie, and Deshaun Watson earned a 63.1 PFF grade in 2024, the last time he took an NFL snap.
Breakout Candidate
Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. followed up an impressive college career by finishing fourth among all rookies in receiving yards (731). He earned a 76.4 PFF receiving grade, trailing only Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III and Tetairoa McMillan among rookies to see at least 20 targets.
Fannin fell in the draft because he was just an okay athlete, but his 3.77 yards per route run in his final college season was always a sign he could be a star in the NFL. With two rookies likely to feature heavily at wide receiver, Fannin could remain a favorite target of whoever is under center and turn himself into a household name in 2026.
Key roster battles
We don't know who the Browns' starting quarterback will be in 2026, with Watson and Sanders locked in a competition. Watson has shown a much higher ceiling, but that was back in 2020. That season, he earned a 92.4 PFF grade and produced 42 big-time throws. Since then, he has played just 1,184 snaps and produced 16 big-time throws. Sanders struggled as a rookie, posting more games with a PFF grade below 40.0 than above 65.0.
The wild card here is new head coach Todd Monken. Monken has helped his quarterbacks throughout his career, so don't be surprised to see him lean on play action and try to give whoever wins the job some easy throws.