Cleveland Browns NFL Draft Live Blog – Rumors, Picks, and More

The 2026 NFL Draft officially begins for the Cleveland Browns and the rest of the teams in the NFL tonight at 8:00 pm ET. For Browns fans, Cleveland could be on the clock somewhere between 8:40 pm ET to 9:00 pm ET, as they hold the No. 6 overall pick. Later in the evening, closer to 11:00 pm ET, they are scheduled to be on the clock to make the No. 24 overall pick. It feels good to be heavily involved in the first round of an NFL Draft again, doesn’t it?

We will have all of your Browns-related coverage on the draft here at Dawgs By Nature throughout the weekend. This thread will act as a “live blog,” with updates about the latest small rumors, picks, or trades involving Cleveland or other NFL teams. You should also use the comments section as your NFL Draft open thread! (Newest updates will be at the top of the live blog below)

Browns NFL Draft Live Blog

9:47 AM: Cleveland is one of a few teams to have done homework on QB Ty Simpson:

9:44 AM: Browns fans hoping that a top offensive tackle will be available at #24 could be disappointed:

9:42 AM: Here is a fun little nugget: NFL prospects who are in the green room will sign the helmet of the team that selected them on a wall art installation:

9:34 AM: How accurate is the DBN Big Board for the Browns compared to a national big board like Pro Football Focus put together? We did a comparison below — in the left two columns are the Top 50 rankings on PFF. The two columns on the right show what number that player appeared at on the Browns’ big board, as well as the difference in ranking.

For example, the -3 in the difference column for LB Sonny Styles represents that Browns fans ranked Styles three spots lower than PFF did (PFF ranked him 4th, while Browns fans ranked him 7th).

PFF Rank	Player Name	DBN Rank	Difference
1	QB Fernando Mendoza	2	-1
2	LB Arvell Reese	4	-2
3	RB Jeremiyah Love	10	-7
4	LB Sonny Styles	7	-3
5	EDGE Rueben Bain	14	-9
6	EDGE David Bailey	8	-2
7	OT Francis Mauigoa	6	1
8	S Caleb Downs	3	5
9	CB Mansoor Delane	17	-8
10	WR Carnell Tate	1	9
11	S Dillon Thieneman	22	-11
12	OT Spencer Fano	9	3
13	OT Monroe Freeling	5	8
14	TE Kenyon Sadiq	19	-5
15	WR Makai Lemon	12	3
16	OG Vega Ioane	16	0
17	CB Jermod McCoy	30	-13
18	LB C.J. Allen	42	-24
19	WR Jordyn Tyson	11	8
20	EDGE Akheem Mesidor	26	-6
21	S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren	21	0
22	EDGE Keldric Faulk	35	-13
23	CB Avieon Terrell	31	-8
24	WR Omar Cooper	20	4
25	OT Blake Miller	24	1
26	EDGE Cashius Howell	49	-23
27	OT Kadyn Proctor	15	12
28	DT Kayden McDonald	32	-4
29	EDGE T.J. Parker	N/A	N/A
30	OT Max Iheanachor	25	5
31	WR Denzel Boston	18	13
32	DT Caleb Banks	46	-14
33	DT Peter Woods	45	-12
34	CB Colton Hood	33	1
35	WR KC Concepcion	23	12
36	OG Emmanuel Pregnon	N/A	N/A
37	DT Christian Miller	N/A	N/A
38	OT Caleb Lomu	13	25
39	DT Lee Hunter	N/A	N/A
40	EDGE Zion Young	40	0
41	CB Brandon Cisse	36	5
42	QB Ty Simpson	37	5
43	CB D’Angelo Ponds	29	14
44	WR Chris Bell	27	17
45	LB Jacob Rodriguez	34	11
46	CB Chris Johnson	39	7
47	EDGE R Mason Thomas	N/A	N/A
48	OG Chase Bisontis	28	20
49	WR Germie Bernard	38	11
50	CB Keith Abney II	N/A	N/A

7:55 AM: You can see the final Top 50 of our Browns Big Board below, as voted on by the DBN Community. Some fans were shaking their head that WR Carnell Tate was No. 1 over QB Fernando Mendoza, since the exercise is intended to represent who Cleveland should take if everyone was available (and not just writing Mendoza off because you know the Raiders will take him). It is what it is, though — and if you look past that, the rest of the big board (with a little early Ohio State bias clearly mixed in) represents what Browns fans are thinking heading into the draft.

We’ll be referencing this big board on Day 1 and the early part of Day 2 of the draft.

7:00 AM: Good morning, Browns fans, and welcome to our annual NFL Draft live blog! Each year, I like to begin the live blog by taking a look at how the host city has set-up for the draft, including the draft stage. Let’s see how the layout looks for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

A couple of notes about this year’s site:

Pittsburgh has split their draft festivities among two locations: the North Shore area (where the Steelers play) and Point State Park across the river. Fans will have to enter threw security at each location. To get from one part to the other, they’ll have to walk to the Roberto Clemente Bridge, passing by PNC Park. On Friday and Saturday, a ferry will be available to transport fans across the river.
The city is projecting 500,000 to 700,000 fans over the three-day span, potentially making it one of the busiest events in Pittsburgh’s history. The school system has gne to remove learning from Wednesday through Friday to prepare for traffic.

Here is a shot of some giant Super Bowl trophies located in the green room:

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