Browns trade – As the Cleveland Browns enter 2026 with Deshaun Watson finally healthy and second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders pushing for the starting job, outside praise has landed on one key offseason decision: trading back from No. 6 and still landing the draft’s firs
The Cleveland Browns have a quarterback situation heading into 2026 that looks like it could go right down to the wire. Veteran Deshaun Watson is finally healthy, and second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders is also making it clear he wants the starting role.
But the talk around this offseason isn’t only about who’s going to take snaps. One move is drawing extra attention from the start of this roster rebuild, and it’s tied directly to a piece of football that tends to decide everything else: the offensive line.
In a recent feature for The Athletic. Mike Sando singled out what he calls his favorite offseason moves for each NFL franchise after “most major NFL offseason moves” were complete. For Cleveland, his selection was praise for trading back from No. 6 while still securing the draft’s first offensive lineman.
Sando’s reasoning centers less on the single player Cleveland took at No. 9—Spencer Fano—and more on the Browns’ plan for the trenches. “This move is less about Spencer Fano, the prospect Cleveland drafted at No. 9, and more about the Browns’ maneuvering to address massive issues on the offensive line,” Sando wrote. He added that the Browns had already acquired veteran lineman Tytus Howard, among other reinforcements, heading into the draft.
The point. in Sando’s telling. is that Cleveland still needed “all the line help they could get. ” but didn’t feel forced to take the first available option at No. 6. Instead. the team kept patience in the first round—“maximizing value”—while working toward the kind of offensive foundation quarterbacks can actually build on.
That matters even with two quarterbacks competing for the spotlight. For Watson or Sanders to succeed, the Browns need an offense that can protect and create room up front. Sando’s argument lines up with that reality: the quarterback battle may draw the attention. but the offensive line has to hold up long enough for either of them to prove what they’re capable of in 2026.
On a roster with high stakes for multiple positions at once, the Browns’ offseason decision aimed at “massive issues on the offensive line” is the one move that could quietly decide how much the rest of the season ends up changing.
Cleveland Browns Deshaun Watson Shedeur Sanders Spencer Fano Tytus Howard NFL offseason offensive line 2026 quarterback competition