New Trade Idea Helps Cleveland Browns Fix Offensive Line Quickly

It’s no secret that rebuilding the Cleveland Browns offensive line is one of this offseason’s highest priorities.

Even general manager Andrew Berry warned that there might be a lot of change in the unit, right after the past regular season ended.

Now, one of ESPN’s analysts has proposed a trade that could end up shoring one of the tackle positions with a veteran starter for a relatively small price, a low round draft pick.

Bill Barnwell suggests that Cleveland hand over a 2026 fifth-rounder to the Jacksonville Jaguars for offensive tackle Walker Little and a 2027 seventh-rounder.

On paper, Barnwell’s proposal makes sense. Little is no All-Pro, but the former second-rounder out of Stanford has started 39 out of the 70 games he has appeared in since being picked in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Jags.

According to Barnwell, “Little should also have some modest trade value because of his age (he turns 27 in April) and experience playing left tackle”. Barnwell reasons that Jacksonville really doesn’t need Little anymore, especially at a $11 million guaranteed base salary for 2026, and another $11 million base salary for 2027, stemming from a 2024 extension. After all, the Jaguars recently re-signed Cole Van Lanen -- the man who took Little’s job as left tackle -- to a three-year, $51 million deal.

The upside is that a trade for Little would cost the Browns a very small amount of draft capital, while enabling Cleveland to redo his contract immediately, gaining some much needed cap relief by kicking some of that guaranteed money into future years.

The downside? Even Barnwell admits that “I'm not sure Little is even an average left tackle”, and also points out that, “per NFL Next Gen Stats, he allowed 7.5 sacks and 57 pressures in 12 games at left tackle before suffering a concussion.”

Watch Drake Thomas lower the shoulder and toss Walker Little off to the side before closing in on Lawrence for the sack... pic.twitter.com/vg8nHsv7qz
— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) October 14, 2025

I know Berry and new head coach Todd Monken are in dire need of bodies for the offensive line, with Jack Conklin, Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller, Teven Jenkins, Ethan Pocic and Cam Robinson set to hit free agency, and Dawand Jones coming back from a season-ending injury that robbed him of most of his 2025 but, is Little really worth the trouble?

Sure, chances are Little would be better than what the Browns could get from an average fifth-round prospect if they exercise the pick instead of dealing it, but the price tag would be so much lower and there'd be a minimal but non-zero chance of finding a gem somewhere. After five years in the league, the ceiling seems set for Little, and it’s not really high.

One look at free agency shows that a guy like the Jets’ Alijah Vera-Tucker, who can play guard or right tackle, might be had for a multi-year deal worth around $10-12 million, and he’s only 26 years old.

Another guy who could warrant a look is the Bears’ Braxton Jones, who like Little struggled through a horrendous 2025, but might be able to get signed in free agency for roughly half of Vera-Tucker’s price. And in the ‘been-there-done-that’ category, former Rams’ Super Bowl champ Joseph Noteboom is 30 years old but could cost even less than Jones.

And, in all these cases, the Browns wouldn't have to give up draft picks.

There are no easy answers for Cleveland’s offensive line, and renegotiating with at least one of the veterans with contracts entering void years -- such as Bitonio if he doesn’t retire or Pocic -- would give the unit a little continuity and leadership, while helping alleviate the Brown’s situation under the cap.

The suggestion for Little isn’t terrible and it wouldn’t cost too much, but it likely doesn’t provide any tangible solution for the long term, either. Cleveland needs to invest in their offensive line in the draft, and do it wisely. Since 2016, the Browns have picked only one offensive lineman in the first round, Jedrick Wills Jr., and that didn’t turn out superb.

One miss out of one pick in nine years -- a period when Cleveland surrendered three first rounders for Deshaun Watson -- is the main reason why the Browns’ immediate future looks so bleak at the O-line.