The War Room · 2026
Cleveland Browns offseason brief
The roster state the front office faced entering the offseason, reconstructed from last season's snaps and the contract ledger. Needs predict behavior; the risk bands are odds, never verdicts.
QB room · cheap-vet
Cheap veteran bridge; the room stays in the market at every rung.
Need board
Ten position groups ranked against the other 31 teams. Draft prior is the measured chance a team in this need state spends a top-100 pick there; corner priors deliberately ignore rank because corner drafting is need-insensitive, and the QB prior reads the room class above.
| Rank | Group | Need | Returning snaps | Cap committed | Age | Draft prior | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S | +5.7 | 1% | 0.0% | 26.7 | 14% | |
| 2 | OL | +5.4 | 26% | 0.2% | 30.6 | 56% | |
| 3 | QB | +2.9 | 75% | 0.4% | 28.7 | 19% | |
| 4 | TE | +0.8 | 53% | 0.3% | 25.4 | 15% | |
| 5 | LB | +0.7 | 40% | 0.4% | 25.7 | 18% | |
| 6 | IDL | -2.0 | 70% | 2.3% | 28.1 | 17% | |
| 7 | CB | -2.3 | 80% | 5.0% | 26.7 | 29% | |
| 8 | RB | -2.4 | 70% | 0.6% | 23.7 | 12% | |
| 9 | ED | -3.1 | 85% | 6.4% | 27.2 | 22% | |
| 10 | WR | -3.1 | 100% | 2.8% | 25.1 | 25% |
Own expiring contracts
Keep is the incumbent re-sign band; walk is the projected compensatory selection his departure earns two drafts out, gross of the net-loss formula.
| Player | Pos | Expiring cap | Gtd | Keep | Walk | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Delpit | S | 5.3% | 41% | Low | R3 comp | |
| DeAndre Carter | WR | 0.5% | 54% | Elevated | no comp | age-cliff |
| Damontae Kazee | S | 0.5% | 70% | Low | no comp | |
| Rayshawn Jenkins | S | 0.5% | 82% | Low | no comp | |
| Tony Brown | WR | 0.5% | 0% | Elevated | no comp | age-cliff |
| David Bell | WR | 0.5% | 0% | Low | no comp |
Market targets
Free agents at this team's top-3 need groups, screened to external-buy bands below Severe. External buys keep under 80% of platform production 43% of the time; the band prices that ladder.
| Player | Pos | From | Expiring cap | External band | Forecast retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Smith | S | MIN | 3.7% | High | n/a |
| Donovan Wilson | S | DAL | 3.1% | High | n/a |
| Davis Mills | QB | HOU | 2.5% | High | 0.95 |
| Jordan Whitehead | S | TB | 1.8% | High | n/a |
Built from the team needs ledger (validated against ten years of revealed draft and free-agency behavior) and the second-contract risk model. Odds, not verdicts. Browse the full free-agency class or return to the team page.