Where does Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter fit in the Browns' draft plans? It's one of 10 tasks they must tend to this week.
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Browns GM Andrew Berry meets national media at the NFL Combine at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by a private meeting with Northeast Ohio media. Coach Kevin Stefanski repeats the routine on Wednesday.
Although those appearances should clear up some unanswered questions – injury status of Deshaun Watson, Dawand Jones and Nick Chubb, for example – they might be the least important tasks of the top two Browns football men this week.
The Combine doubles as an NFL convention, with all team executives and coaches and prominent player agents prowling the glorious hotels and watering holes of downtown Indianapolis for five nights or more.
While the primary purpose of the Combine is to have the 329 invited draft prospects medically examined, weighed and measured, interviewed, timed, and worked through position drills, teams also discuss business with agents about the future of veteran players. These discussions result in decisions that become public before or after the beginning of the new NFL business season on March 12.
Below is a list of 10 objectives the Browns should seek to achieve at the NFL Combine. They are listed in order of what I would consider top priority.
1. Measure the trade market for Myles Garrett.
Regardless of what Berry says publicly, the Browns must pursue the best possible trade of Garrett, who is committed to chasing a ring rather than playing in Cleveland. Trying to change his mind is a waste of time. The Browns need to complete a trade of Garrett prior to the draft – if not the March 12 new year start -- to bear the most assets in return. If that requires a redo of Garrett’s contract in advance to lessen the salary-cap penalty, they’ll need his cooperation. A trade of Garrett after the draft, much less after June 1, makes absolutely no sense.
2. Evaluate whether using the No. 2 overall pick on Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders is the right move.
Selecting your next franchise quarterback hopeful with a singular draft pick is the preferable and least expensive course of action. Can they live with either QB as “the guy”?
3. Measure the trade price for Tennessee’s No. 1 pick.
If the Browns don’t like one of the top two quarterbacks -- either Ward or Sanders -- they should guarantee the QB of their choice by moving up to the No. 1 spot.
4. Measure the trade market to move down to No. 3 and/or No. 6.
If the Browns are uncomfortable using No. 2 on Ward and Sanders, they should research the merits of trading down, perhaps twice, to No. 3 and then No. 6.
5. Evaluate the best quarterback obtainable with the No. 33 overall pick.
If the Browns don’t prefer Ward or Sanders, their Plan B surely must be to take their QB at No. 33. The second wave of quarterbacks includes the likes of Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe, Will Howard and Tyler Shough. If their draft target is a QB in the second wave, they have to make sure he’ll be there at No. 33.
6. Determine if Abdul Carter is a 3-down, 4-3 defensive end or a Micah Parsons-like chess piece used occasionally off the ball.
Currently, Carter is listed as 6-3 and 251 pounds. That’s light for an every-down, 4-3 end in Jim Schwartz’s defense. Carter’s official height and weight will be known this week. If the Browns envision Carter as the likely replacement for Garrett, they must have a clear plan on how he’d be used.
7. Determine how viable would Travis Hunter be as their top pick.
The Heisman Trophy winner was a phenomenal two-way player at Colorado. He is listed as 6-1 and 185 pounds. If taken first or second overall, he would be the lightest player ever taken that high in the draft. Hunter now has been cleared to participate in both the wide receiver and cornerback drills at the Combine. The Browns, like every team, have to evaluate how they would use Hunter and if his versatility would offset his size limitation to merit such a high pick. How highly other teams covet Hunter would increase the trade value of the Browns’ No. 2 pick.
8. Determine how valuable Mason Graham would be in Schwartz’s defense.
The Browns haven’t had a difference-maker at defensive tackle since Michael Dean Perry in the 1990s. Recent Super Bowl winners have shown a disruptive interior lineman can have a bigger impact than an edge rusher in today’s pass-happy game. If Graham can fill that role, a case can be made that he should be a strong consideration for the No. 2 pick.
9. Determine what position after quarterback should be targeted with the No. 33 pick.
If the Browns do select a quarterback first, what’s the best option with the No. 33 pick – defensive end or tackle, offensive tackle, running back, or other?
10. Zero in on a veteran quarterback acquisition.
No matter what the Browns decide to do in the draft at quarterback, they must choose the right veteran QB to acquire. This transaction should be among the first things the Browns do at the March 12 kickoff date.