Browns Wire

The Cleveland Browns are spending their bye week licking their wounds after a disastrous first half of their season, but it does put them in a better position to land top-end talent like Missouri’s Luther Burden III in mock drafts. The Browns focused on regrouping for the future, trading defensive end Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick to Detroit for the Lions’ 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick. Smith was a very good player for the Browns. He was Garrett’s partner-in-crime, and hopefully, he mentored the rest of the defensive ends. The Browns have a group of talented and unproven players. They were drafted in the middle rounds and had to wait behind some of the best players in the league. The Browns will rely on their draft picks for the rest of the season as the team builds towards 2025.