Andrew Berry: We’re excited to add the extra draft resources both this year and next

For most of April, it seemed like the Browns were going to select Colorado's Travis Hunter at No. 2 overall.

But then Cleveland and Jacksonville delivered the surprise of the first round, as the Browns moved back to No. 5 and picked up a 2026 first-round pick as part of the deal for the right to draft Hunter.

Browns General Manager Andrew Berry told reporters after selecting defensive tackle Mason Graham at No. 5 that the club thinks next year’s draft class will “be a bit stronger in the first 30 picks.” That was part of the impetus for doing the deal.

“Both in the short-term and over a multi-year time horizon, [the trade] was a fit for what we wanted to do with the team and what we wanted to do with the roster,” Berry said. “And we’re excited to add Mason. We’re excited to add the extra draft resources both this year and next[.]”

But after Berry spoke glowingly of Hunter leading up to the draft, why pass on him?

“I think that we obviously had strong affinity for Travis, no different than we had strong affinity for a number of players at the top,” Berry said. “I think the thing for us [is] there are a lot of good players in every class. And you know, as much as we liked Travis or Abdul [Carter] or, you know, Ashton [Jenty] — like whoever that may be — the opportunity is still to get a premier prospect and add significantly to our resources, which gives us added flexibility to build the team. We felt like it was an opportunity.”

And if the Browns didn’t find a trade partner, would they have drafted Hunter?

“That’s going to have to go to my grave,” Berry said.

Berry added that the Browns were “always pretty open minded” to the possibility of trading out of No. 2.

“I think oftentimes when people think of a pick, it naturally automatically goes to like, OK, well how do you maximize it by selecting?” Berry said. “But it’s a resource and there are so many different avenues that you can use the resource to improve your team. Whether it’s what we did tonight … whether it’s we’re picking Travis Hunter, whether it’s you’re selecting a quarterback, whether it’s you use it to trade for a high-end veteran. And so, we really went into the spring pretty open minded because part of our DNA is we want to be opportunistic and flexible.

“We don’t want to necessarily close off our mind to how we can best utilize a resource to improve the team.”

Plus, the Browns do have another resource to potentially move up and draft a quarterback next year, with Berry saying, “I think that’s a possibility.”

“But I also say that we’re pretty early in the weekend, so I don’t know how the rest of the draft is going to unfold,” Berry said. "There’s talent across positions, including the quarterback position, and we just really have to see kind of how our next … seven or eight picks, whatever it is, unfold throughout the weekend.”