Browns Hold 9 Picks And Won’t Commit to One—Berry’s $23.5M Dead-Cap Silence Worries NFL

Andrew Berry stood at the podium eight days before the 2026 NFL Draft and talked for half an hour. He praised prospects. He floated trades. He acknowledged quarterbacks. And when it was over, nobody in that room knew a single thing more than when they walked in. The Browns hold nine draft picks, including the No. 6 overall selection, and their GM treated every question like a trap door.

Nine Picks, Zero Answers

Cleveland owns two first-rounders at No. 6 and No. 24, a second at No. 39, a third at No. 70, and five more in Rounds 4 through 7 at No. 107, No. 146, No. 149, No. 206, and No. 248. Two more picks than a clean year. Kenny Pickett became a 2026 fifth-rounder from Las Vegas in August. Joe Flacco’s October trade to Cincinnati swapped a fifth for a sixth. Every pick on this board used to be a person in the locker room. That’s the real price tag, and Berry treats every one of them like a chip.

The 2025 Receipt

A year ago, Berry called Travis Hunter “a unicorn” and said his two-way game was “a little bit like Ohtani, where when he’s playing one side, he’s an outstanding player.” One week later, he traded down from No. 2 to No. 5, took Mason Graham, and pocketed the No. 24 pick Cleveland holds now. “I love how everybody last year thought we weren’t trading down and everybody this year assumes we are,” Berry told reporters on April 15, grinning. The Hunter rave wasn’t a tell about the pick. It was a price tag for it.

The Smokescreen Confession

This April, Berry compared Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love to Christian McCaffrey. He called Ohio State’s Carnell Tate “a trapeze artist.” Then a reporter asked if he was running smokescreens. Berry laughed. “No Ohtanis that we can identify this year.” He confessed to the trick while performing it again. The Hunter-Ohtani line preceded a trade-down. The Love-McCaffrey line is sitting in the same chamber. He told the room the cards were marked, then dealt another hand, and the dealers across the league still have to play.

Ambiguity as a Weapon

“Our mindset going into the draft with our most valuable asset isn’t about, ‘hey, just trade it away.’ It’s maximizing the asset.” That line tells you everything. Berry treats No. 6 like a poker hand, not a roster decision. Trade up, trade down, select a player, acquire a veteran; he listed every option and committed to none. “I don’t know that we’re going to be picking six at the end of April.” Eight days out. Maybe the board really is fluid. But a GM this deliberate doesn’t accidentally broadcast uncertainty on a Wednesday.

The $23.5 Million Silence

Joel Bitonio’s contract officially voided on March 11, 2026. Cleveland is on the hook for a $23,504,000 dead-cap hit in 2026, whether he plays a snap or not. Berry’s answer when asked about him: “I don’t.” Two words, then a pivot. Meanwhile, the Browns signed Zion Johnson to a three-year, $49.5 million deal with $32.4 million guaranteed, then added Elgton Jenkins on a two-year, $24 million pact the following day. The cap claims to be “good.” The receipts say it’s been spent twice on the same problem.

The Quarterback Bluff

Cleveland’s quarterback room: Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders, and Deshaun Watson. Berry refused to rule out drafting another: “I think it’s possible that we could add to any position. And I wouldn’t disqualify the quarterback either.” Read that line through the smokescreen filter. Tennessee, the Giants, and the Saints all have QB needs and picks in the range that would have to deal with Cleveland to jump the board. The “wouldn’t disqualify quarterback” phrasing isn’t reassurance to Browns fans. It’s a meter running on every team that wants a passer at No. 7 or later.

The Precedent That Rewrote the Rules

Berry’s 2025 trade-down from No. 2 to No. 5 proved a GM could surrender the second overall pick and still walk away richer — the No. 24 Cleveland holds now is the receipt. That precedent sits on the desk of every team slotted No. 7 through No. 10 this week. If Berry slides again, their boards collapse. If he stays, the bidding war was for nothing. Once you see it, a public player comparison from this office reads as market-making, not scouting. Mock drafts built on a GM’s podium praise are mock drafts built on sand.

Garrett at 23, and the Clock in Pittsburgh

Draft night opens Thursday, April 23, in Pittsburgh. Myles Garrett finished 2025 with 23 sacks, breaking the 22.5 single-season record Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt had shared since 2021. He sealed it on Joe Burrow at Paycor Stadium in Week 18, his 12th career sack of Burrow alone. Berry has treated him as off-limits, which removes one variable and introduces another: a roster built young on purpose needs 2 to 3 legitimate starters from Rounds 2 through 7 just to call this draft a success. The margin for error on Thursday is razor-thin.

The Game After the Game

Other general managers watched this press conference. They saw a man admit to misdirection, then deploy it in the same sentence. Indianapolis corner Kenny Moore II’s trade request is reportedly available to Cleveland for a sixth — the kind of side angle Berry works while the league obsesses over No. 6. The smart rooms are already rewriting their podium scripts, and trade-day phone calls across the league will get louder and less predictable for it. Berry isn’t playing the draft. He’s playing the teams playing the draft.

Sources:
ESPN, “Browns GM says Travis Hunter a ‘unicorn’ due to versatility,” April 16, 2025
Sports Illustrated, “Three Key Takeaways From Browns GM Andrew Berry Ahead of 2026 NFL Draft,” April 15, 2026
Yahoo Sports, “Joel Bitonio contract void leaves Browns with $23.5 million headache,” March 11, 2026
ESPN, “Cleveland Browns 2026 NFL draft picks, biggest needs,” April 12, 2026
NFL.com, “Can’t-Miss Play: Myles Garrett’s 23rd sack of 2025 sets NFL’s new single-season record,” January 3, 2026
Cleveland Browns, “Andrew Berry discusses outlook on No. 6 pick and more ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft,” April 15, 2026