One of the consistent themes in this Browns’ offseason has been GM Andrew Berry’s intent to make the roster younger.
“That’s just what we’re projecting based on the amount of draft resources we have and then probably just anticipated activity and free agency – that combined with having a very young defense, we would anticipate that we’d be a very young team,” Berry said in January.
“That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to participate in free agency or participate with veteran players. But the reality of having, you know, 10 selections [in the draft], eight that are in the top 150, and already a very young defense and with pretty heavy investment on offense, in most worlds, we’re probably going to be one of the younger teams in the league.”
There is little correlation between a young roster and success on the field.
The Packers were the youngest team in 2025 (based on average age of their 53 roster). They went 9-7-1 and lost in the wild-card round.
The Seahawks were the fifth-youngest team (average age: 25.77 years) and won the Super Bowl. The Bengals had the exact same average age and missed the playoffs.
The Broncos were the seventh-oldest team (26.43 years) and made it to the AFC Championship Game.
The Browns ranked 14th last year with an average age of 26.15. They went 5-12.
The Browns were the NFL’s youngest team in 2022 and 2017. They went 7-10 and 0-16, respectively.
The bottom line is this: Being young and bad is better than being old and bad.
We won’t know where the Browns rank this year in terms of youngest rosters until the cut to 53 in September. But we can make some observations about the roster of 90 they will take into Todd Monken’s first Browns training camp.
* The oldest player is fullback Mike Burton, 34.
* The youngest player is left tackle Spencer Fano, 21 years, 6 months, 22 days.
* The Browns have six players over the age of 30: Burton, 34; defensive tackle Maliek Collins, 31; quarterback Deshaun Watson, 30; offensive lineman Elgton Jenkins, 30; right tackle Tytus Howard, 30; and defensive end Myles Garrett, 30.
* The Browns have seven players age 29, five players age 28, seven players age 27, nine players age 26, and 10 players age 25.
* The Browns have 46 players age 24 or younger.
* Myles Garrett is the longest-tenured player on the team. He is entering his 10th season with the Browns.
* Denzel Ward is next, entering his ninth season with the Browns.
* Grant Delpit is next, entering his seventh season with the Browns.
* Deshaun Watson is the longest-tenured player on offense. He is entering his fifth season with the Browns.