The Cleveland Browns have to rethink the NFL Draft after Dexter Lawrence arrived in the AFC North
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The Cleveland Browns have to rethink the NFL Draft after Dexter Lawrence arrived in the AFC North originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There are a lot of people hoping the Cleveland Browns draft a wide receiver in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Those people believe the club will want to pair a prize prospect at wide receiver with second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders. A move some think will transform the young quarterback into a true franchise starting-caliber quarterback. It may work, it may not. Sanders had one of the worst statistical rookie seasons on record, and a stud wide receiver may just help Sanders make a jump in production.
Despite the obvious, that no rookie is a guarantee, what's more likely to help Sanders excel at quarterback (or whoever starts under center) is a strong offensive line. It's an obvious need for the club, and one that has to be addressed. Especially after the news broke on Saturday of a major player landing in the AFC North.
The Cincinnati Bengals traded for All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants in exchange for the Bengals' first-round pick, 10th overall, in the 2026 NFL Draft. That move alone makes the Bengals' front four all that much more vicious. It's a move that puts the entire AFC North on notice, with each of the other three clubs now needing to prepare to face Lawrence a combined six times.
More: Why Giants trading Dexter Lawrence to Bengals is gut-wrenching news for Browns
The move should make the Browns worried, after all, they had a hard enough time keeping their quarterbacks upright in 2025 without Lawrence in state. The Browns gave up 51 sacks in 2025, seventh-most in the NFL last year, and ensuring that doesn't happen again should be paramount.
To help with that, the Browns landed Tytus Howard, Zion Johnson, and Elgton Jenkins in the offseason, while re-signing Teven Jenkins. Except for Jenkins, everyone the Browns signed so far to "bolster" the offensive line is a mediocre offensive lineman on their best days, according to PFF. Howard posted a PFF grade of 62.3 in 2025, with Johnson sitting at a 56.5, and Jenkins at 62.0. The Browns need better than average, especially when you're looking at a division that contains Lawrence, T.J. Watt, and Trey Hendrickson.
They are now in one of the scariest divisions in the NFL with one of the worst offensive lines going. If the goal is to keep Sanders upright and healthy, then the Browns have to focus heavily on the offensive line. Seeing as how the Browns have two first-round picks, a second, and a third as of press time, they should draft two, if not three, offensive linemen. It may seem excessive, but they simply didn't do enough in the offseason before the Lawrence trade, and now with his arrival, it's become all the more obvious.
The Browns would be wise to get a center, a guard, and a tackle to help balance out the line and prepare the team for the pressure to come. Otherwise, it won't matter who the Browns are throwing to if the man who's throwing it is constantly on his back.
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