We’re two weeks away from the 2026 NFL Draft and teams are finalizing their boards for the big three-day event. The Cleveland Browns have nine selections and must take full advantage of the picks to turn this thing around. 

The Browns have two first-round picks at No. 6 and No. 24 and they enter the draft with two glaring needs. Cleveland must add a left tackle and a wide receiver early on in this draft. 

A lot of the smoke points toward them doing so. 

NFL noise pointing to Browns taking Ohio State star early in draft 

According to ESPN’s Matt Miller, a lot of the belief around the league is that the Browns will end up taking Ohio State’s next first-round wide receiver at No. 6 overall.

“It’s difficult to predict what Cleveland will do — see last year’s trade back from the No. 2 pick — but chatter around the league is that wide receiver is in play at No. 6. Carnell Tate (Ohio State) is the name most often associated with the Browns. It should be noted that some league-wide sources believe the Browns would trade out from No. 6 to a team like Dallas, which is trying to move up for a pass rusher.”

Tate is one of the very best wide receivers in the draft and has a true WR1 ceiling that Cleveland needs. The 6-foot-2 wideout wins at all levels of the field as a precise route runner who can make contested catches regularly. No matter who the Browns have at quarterback, adding Tate into the picture would make their job easier.

Finished writing up the top WRs and I ended with Carnell Tate as WR1

Explosive, can sink his hips, good route salesman, and has the best ball skills in this class. Biggest concern is that he's not very dynamic or balanced after the catch pic.twitter.com/iYGMBUic6G

— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) February 7, 2026

Selecting Carnell Tate opens the door for the Browns to grab their tackle later 

If the Browns take Tate at No. 6, all eyes will be on them taking an offensive tackle at pick No. 24. Depending on whether a run on tackles happens, I’m certainly not ruling out the Browns trading up for their guy. GM Andrew Berry has already said the team isn’t shying away from flipping a right tackle to left tackle if needed, it’s on the table. 

Names to know later in the first round will be Georgia’s Monroe Freeling, Utah’s Caleb Lomu, Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor, and Clemson’s Blake Miller. Miller would be the player from this group needing to flip to the left side. 

If the Browns can fill their two biggest needs with good picks in the first round the door is open to attack the rest of the draft with the best player available. An ideal outcome for the Browns if they can make it happen.