The Cleveland Browns got a needed 3rd pick.
The Cleveland Browns are coming into the 2023 NFL Draft down their first and third-round pick. The team had a second, two fours, two fives, a sixth, and a seventh prior to this week, but thanks to the Minnesota Vikings hiring of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah this past season, The Browns were able to get a compensatory third-round pick coming their way.
Compensatory picks are handed out for a variety of reasons, and where these picks fall is dependent on a super-secret formula the NFL doesn’t want to share. Teams that lose coaches, players, or in the Browns’ case, front-office personnel, are eligible to land a pick. They’re only from rounds three through seven, and are usually, if not always, at the end of their respective round.
The NFL usually rewards teams who lose valuable assets, not just teams who may have a lot of aging or declining players. For example, The Browns are likely to lose Kareem Hunt, Ethan Pocic, and or Anthony Walker this offseason. If they do, the NFL may decide that one, two, or all three, deserve to be included in the compensation.
The odds are though, they likely won’t net the Browns much. As some teams may lose Pro Bowlers and high-value assets. So that may alter the curve some.
Free agency may give the Cleveland Browns more, next year.
Depending on who leaves in free agency, the Browns may land a handful of picks. But those picks won’t be assigned to the Browns this year. Instead, should Hunt, and others leave, the team will get picks next year. And while they’ll likely be later-round picks, where you generally just get some special teams players, with the roster’s salary ballooning for the next few seasons, they need all of the cheap, young talents they can get.
It isn’t likely to make things tremendously better, but there are always chances that the team gets lucky and lands an unexpected Pro Bowl-caliber player.