The Opening Drive 4/29: Everything Andrew Berry Had To Say Post-Draft
The Browns GM visited local Cleveland media and filled us in on plenty of the Browns decisions and processes.
Andrew Berry sat down with ESPN Cleveland on Monday to do his post-draft debrief, and it was one of the more substantive conversations he’s had publicly in a while. He covered the quarterback room, the trade-down logic at pick six, who else they were considering with that first pick, the philosophy behind going heavier at safety, and what he expects from Shedeur Sanders going into Year 2. Let’s go through all of it.
The Pick-Six Trade-Down: Fano Was Always the Target, But There Was a Group
Berry confirmed what most people suspected — the Browns traded down from six to nine with Kansas City primarily because Spencer Fano was still going to be there, and they could add a third and a fifth in the process. But the more interesting detail came when Grossi pressed him on whether Carnell Tate was ever genuinely in the picture.
Berry said yes, unequivocally. He described a group of three players Cleveland would have been “elated to select” at either pick six or nine, with Fano headlining that group and Tate firmly in it. The third player he declined to name. When Grossi asked if it was another offensive tackle, Berry said no — it was a different position. When Rizz pushed him to just say who it was now that the draft is over, Berry smiled and said it would be “good speculation for fans and the media.”
Tate going fourth to Tennessee made the decision cleaner than it might have been. Cleveland probably would have had a real internal debate if he fell to 6. And whoever that third player was — a skill position guy, apparently — is going to be a talking point until training camp.
What matters is that the trade itself worked. They got their guy, added future capital, and the board cooperated. Berry executed this cleanly.
The Quarterback Room: Competition Is Real, But Shedeur Sanders Is Getting a Fair Shot
This was the most scrutinized portion of the interview, and for good reason. The Browns are heading into 2026 with four quarterbacks on the roster — Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and now Taylen Green — and the question of who starts Week 1 is genuinely open.
Berry’s message on Shedeur was measured but notably positive. He said Sanders has had a strong offseason, performed well at voluntary minicamp, and showed meaningful improvement in decision-making and pocket management compared to where he was at the end of the 2025 season. His stated expectations for Year 2: more command of the offense, better ball security, and sharper situational awareness.
That’s not a GM throwing a player under the bus, it’s an honest evaluation. Berry is keeping the door open, which is the only honest thing he can do right now.
On the broader competition, he kept it simple: they’ve preached open competition since he’s been there, and that won’t change in the quarterback room. They’re looking for performance. Watson, Sanders, Gabriel — everyone is in the mix. Reps won’t be divided equally, per Todd Monken, but the job is there to be won.
The Taylen Green pick fits neatly into this. Berry acknowledged Green needs polish — accuracy and decision-making are works in progress — but said the physical tools were too rare to walk away from at pick 182. Six-six, 227 pounds, ran a 4.36, jumped 43.5 inches in the vertical at the combine. Not a threat to the starting job this year. A developmental investment in case none of the other three become the answer. Just the type of player worth taking a late-round flier on.
Berry also addressed the Ty Simpson question directly. He noted that Simpson was on Cleveland’s radar, and that there was a point on the board where he could have factored into their thinking at pick 24 if things broke a certain way — but stressed that was never the primary intention with that pick. They went wide receiver with KC Concepcion, which was always the focal point of their plan.
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The Safety Philosophy: Positionless Defense Is the Direction
This was the part of the interview that probably got the least attention but deserved more. When asked about the trade-up to get Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in the second round, Berry went into genuine detail about why the safety position is becoming more valuable across the NFL and why the Browns are leaning into it.
His argument: the league has been shifting from traditional four-three and three-four fronts toward a three-safety model, where teams deploy hybrid defenders who can line up anywhere in the secondary or near the box. He cited Kyle Hamilton as the prototype and pointed to what Nick Emmanwori did as a rookie in Seattle under Mike Macdonald as another example of how much value a positionless safety can generate. The framework he used — “positionless basketball applied to defense” — is accurate. Teams are increasingly putting their best athletes on the field regardless of positional labels, and the safety position is where that flexibility gets maximized.
McNeil-Warren, at 6-3 and with the rangy profile Berry described, is Cleveland’s attempt to build that position group the right way. He may challenge Ronnie Hickman for the deep safety role as a rookie and grow into something more alongside Hickman and Grant Delpit right away.
The Trade Record and Overall Draft Architecture
Berry set a personal record with six trades over the draft weekend. The sequencing was deliberate:
Traded down from 6 to 9 with Kansas City (gained a third and a fifth)
Traded up in the second round to get McNeil-Warren at 58
Traded out of the third, then back in for Austin Barber in the third — “yo-yo trade”
Made two moves in the fifth round, converting picks 148 and 152 into a 2027 fourth-rounder (via Seattle) and picks 170 and 182 (via Denver)
Used 182 on Taylen Green
The end result was ten total picks, with the Browns getting Day 1 starters in Fano (OT), KC Concepcion (WR), and Denzel Boston (WR), a high-upside safety in McNeil-Warren, additional offensive line depth in Barber and Parker Brailsford, linebacker Justin Jefferson, tight end Joe Royer, and Green.
Eight of the ten picks addressed the offense. That was the stated priority after a historically bad offensive output in 2025, and Berry followed through on it.
Berry came into this offseason with plenty of wavering opinion on his ability to get the job done — consecutive losing seasons, a franchise quarterback situation that has been mismanaged for years, a head coach fired. He needed another draft that addressed real needs with real players, not just depth filler.
By any honest accounting, he delivered one. We will see if the players meet the standard most are expecting, but for now the return is promising. The interview reflected a GM who had a clear plan, executed it with more flexibility than most expected, and is now asking the right questions going into training camp rather than making promises he can’t keep.
The quarterback room remains the central unresolved question for this franchise. Berry didn’t pretend otherwise. But for the first time in a while, Sanders is going to have an actual offensive line and actual receivers around him when training camp opens. Whatever happens from there will be a more honest evaluation than anything we’ve seen from Berea in several years.
That’s the best you can ask for right now.
Browns Film Breakdown will return with more All-22 film this week of draftees.
