Browns Digest

Browns Could Be in Big Trouble After Failing to Address Major Concern

The Cleveland Browns failed to address one massive concern during the NFL Draft, and they could be in big trouble moving forward because of it.
Jan 4, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski looks on during the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
Jan 4, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski looks on during the second quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

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The Cleveland Browns certainly made a whole of noise during the NFL Draft, trading down from the No. 2 overall pick and later swinging another trade to land Shedeur Sanders in the fifth round.

However, in the midst of all the hoopla, the Browns forgot to address one very important area: their offensive line.

A couple of years ago, Cleveland's offensive line was a major strength, but this past season, it became clear that the Browns' aging linemen were becoming a concern.

You would have thought Cleveland would have attempted to rectify the problem in the draft, but instead, the Browns doubled down at both quarterback and running back, failing to select a single offensive lineman.

During a recent appearance on 92.3 The Fan, Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus made it clear that he feels Cleveland made a mistake in completely neglecting the trenches during the draft.

Sikkema is 100 percent right. The Browns' offensive line was plagued by injuries in 2024 and showed serious signs of slippage even when it was healthy, and that's something Cleveland was expected to fix over the last couple of months.

Now, to be fair, the Browns had very limited financial flexibility, so it's not like they could have made any significant moves in free agency, but that's all the more reason that they should have looked to find some answers in the draft.

Cleveland had issues up and down the roster heading into this offseason, so the Browns were never going to fill all of their glaring holes in one fell swoop. However, not addressing the offensive line at all last week may have been a massive oversight on the part of the front office.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.