Browns GM: youth doesn't mean losing in 2026 — Terry Pluto

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A young team doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a bad team.That was one of Browns GM Andrew Berry’s messages as we talked about the upcoming season.Now in his seventh season on the job, Berry knows Browns fans cover their ears and close their eyes when hearing their favorite team will have a youthful roster.He was in the front office as an assistant GM when Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta ripped up the roster, dumping veterans and basically playing to lose. The result was a 1-31 record from 2016 to 2017.The 2026 Browns will be the NFL’s second youngest roster behind Miami.But this is not a return to 1-31.“You have to be deliberate when you are turning over the roster – going younger,” said Berry. “Youth is a priority. You may move away from some veterans. But you have to have a balance in the various position groups … you need some guys with experience.”He means veterans such as players he recently acquired. Some recent examples are Jared Verse (25), Tyson Campbell (26), Zion Johnson (26) along with holdovers Grant Delpit (27) and Denzel Ward (29).“Every player you acquire can’t be a project,” said Berry.The GM mentioned the additions of linebacker Sam Williams (49 NFL games, five starts, age 27) and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene (69 NFL games, 17 starts, age 26) late in training camp.“Being young doesn’t necessarily mean you’re purely developmental,” said Berry. “Seattle had the NFL’s fourth youngest roster last year and they won the Super Bowl. Green Bay has had the youngest roster in the last three years and they’ve been a playoff team every year.”Berry isn’t predicting playoffs. He’s also not going to pick a record.Illustration by Ted Crow for Crowquill. Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger was selected one of the top 100 players in the NFL.Ted CrowYoung talent is realBerry talked about the two recent draft classes. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger was the 2025 NFL Rookie Defensive Player of the Year. He also mentioned Quinshon Judkins, Harold Fannin Jr. and Mason Graham from the 2025 draft.Judkins rushed for 827 yards in 14 games. Fannin caught 72 passes and was a Pro Bowl alternate as a tight end. Graham was a fixture in the middle of the defensive line.The 2026 class features two starting receivers (KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston) along with drafting two promising offensive linemen – Spencer Fano and Austin Barber. Second-rounder Emmanuel McNeil-Warren will play a lot at safety.The Browns have been praised nationally for their last two draft classes. ESPN recently ranked the top teams with players 25 or younger. A year ago, the Browns ranked 29th.“The most important young talent a team can have is a young quarterback,” wrote ESPN’s Aaron Schatz. “But we’re not giving the Browns much credit for their two young quarterbacks. Shedeur Sanders, who is 24, struggled last season with 18.9 Total QBR. Dillon Gabriel has already aged off this list, as he will be 26 in December. However, the Browns have added a ton of other young stars in the past two drafts, enough to move from 29th on this list a year ago to fourth.”Watching the Browns in training camp, it’s easy to see how Concepcion and Boston will bring an immediate upgrade to the receivers. A first-round pick, Concepcion is the last receiver picked that high by the Browns since Corey Coleman in 2016.Boston was a second-round pick. The Browns had a first-round grade on him. The last time the Browns selected a receiver in the second round was Greg Little in 2011.While there has been much discussion about the Browns’ recent draft failures when it comes to receivers, they had not been drafting them high.The Browns drafted three offensive linemen in 2026: Spencer Fano (first round), Austin Barber (third round) and Parker Brailsford (fifth round).“You have to give young players a chance to play, grow and develop,” Berry said. “Part of the reason our rookie class did so well last season was they were unencumbered. They had significant roles from the start of the season and those roles grew larger as the season progressed.”Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. was a Pro Bowl alternate as a rookie in 2025. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com8 wins in two years, but there’s hopeWhat about the Browns, who have an 8-27 record in the past two seasons?At the start of the 2024 season, the Browns were still trying to make the Super Bowl. Deshaun Watson was back after shoulder surgery. The team had an 11-6 record in 2023.That 2024 team had the 24th oldest roster in the NFL. Everything fell apart as the Browns finished with a 3-14 record and Watson was injured again.“We came to the realization that some of the players who helped us make the playoffs (2020 and 2023) had reached the back nine of their careers,” said Berry. “That ends up creating a bit of a painful transition period.”Berry admitted the team had been in a “deficit because of the trade we made for Deshaun.” The Browns sent six draft picks to Houston, including first rounders in 2022, 2023 and 2024.Berry talked about how after those playoff seasons in 2020 and 2023, there was no carry-over of success. The franchise still has not had back-to-back winning seasons since the Bernie Kosar period of the late 1980s.He is hoping the last two draft classes along with the next two can lead to some degree of sustained success. The Browns have three first-round picks and another three picks in the second round coming in the next two years.When it comes to the Browns’ approach to the 2026 season, Berry quotes Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti: “We have to first finish our breakfast. We have to establish a foundation, how we want to play and do things right.”Yes, the P-word is mentioned.“We have to position the organization to be more consistent from year-to-year,” said Berry. “Everybody wants to see a winning product as soon as possible. But we don’t want make what I call an ‘emotional fix.’ It’s something for one year and that’s it. We’re in the team’s life cycle where we’re developing players and our goal is to be playing our best football at the end of the season.”Yes, patience will be required.“Winning football is always the goal when we step on the field,” said Berry. “That is the focus for the organization every week. However, there are a subset of things we care about with this current team as well: Continued development of the roster core, showing resiliency to overcome adversity, playing clean football in areas that are within our sole control.”(This is the first of a series of stories based on Terry’s Pluto’s interview with Browns general manager Andrew Berry. Coming next: Berry talks about the hiring of coach Todd Monken.)