The Browns have been spending this offseason like a team that knows the wide receiver room still needs work, and that search may not stop anytime soon. Cleveland has already poured resources into the position, but the next big swing could come in 2027 - and George Pickens is starting to look like the name to watch.
Dallas Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones gave the NFL a reminder this week that keeping Pickens alongside CeeDee Lamb is going to be a major financial headache. On the DLLS Cowboys podcast, Jones made it clear that paying both receivers at the top of the market is a tough sell.
"You look at the situation we have with George Pickens, going alongside CeeDee, most teams - I don't know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers top of the market. So that's going to be a real difficult situation as we move forward.”
That’s where Cleveland enters the picture. If Pickens ends up available through a trade or free agency in 2027, the Browns should be right near the front of the line.
Todd Monken has history with him from Georgia, where Monken was the offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021 while Pickens was in the Bulldogs’ wide receiver room. That connection alone makes the fit easy to see.
And the fit on the field would be obvious, too. A receiving group built around Pickens, Denzel Boston, and KC Concepcion would give opposing defenses plenty to worry about.
The Browns are also positioned to keep making noise at the position. Three of the six wideouts on Cleveland’s initial 53-man roster this year were newcomers: Concepcion, Boston, and Tylan Wallace. By next year, there’s a real chance only Concepcion and Boston - both 2026 draft picks - are still in the mix.
Jerry Jeudy is under contract through the 2027 season, but the price tag climbs fast. He’s due to make about $23 million next year, according to Spotrac, which is nearly $9 million more than his 2026 salary.
Wallace and Malachi Corley are mostly core special teams pieces. Isaiah Bond, an undrafted 2025 wideout, could hang around if he takes a step forward this season, but Cleveland doesn’t have much invested in him right now.
Financially, the Browns should have room to chase a player of Pickens’ caliber. With Deshaun Watson coming off the books, Cleveland sits 23rd in the NFL in total cash allocated to player salaries in 2027. That leaves GM Andrew Berry with the kind of flexibility to be, in his words, "hyper-aggressive" on premium outside options.
Pickens already has a fully-guaranteed $27.2 million franchise tag for the 2026 season with Dallas, but a long-term stay there looks shaky. Lamb’s contract is another complication. His deal is running out of guarantees and comes with a $46 million cap hit in 2027, forcing the Cowboys to consider a restructure or extension just to get that number under control.
Then there’s Pickens’ next payday. Tagging him again would push Dallas past $32 million fully guaranteed, and that kind of money is usually preferred in the form of a signing bonus instead of another tag with no long-term security. It could get even messier if Pickens winds up earning more annually than Lamb, the Cowboys’ longtime No. 1 receiver.
For the Browns, the appeal is pretty straightforward: cap space, a need at receiver, and a coach who already knows Pickens well. For Dallas, the warning signs are already there. Jones didn’t say Pickens is leaving, but he did sound like a man preparing the league for a difficult decision ahead.
If that door opens, Cleveland could be ready to walk through it.
In Other News...
Browns Linked To Unexpected QB Move That Would Shake Up Depth Chart
The Browns quarterback picture has already been murky with Deshaun Watson entrenched as the starter and Dillon Gabriel currently on injured reserve, but a new speculative idea from Bleacher Report would make it even more interesting. In the mock deal, Cleveland would go after Tua Tagovailoa in a trade with the Falcons, sending Gabriel and a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick the other way, a proposal that immediately stands out because it would alter the depth chart in a hurry.
It is the kind of thought experiment that gets attention precisely because it is not rooted in anything confirmed, but it does force a look at how Cleveland wants to handle the position going forward. Trading for Tagovailoa would signal a major shift in how the Browns are thinking about their quarterback room, and even as a hypothetical, it underscores how unsettled the situation still feels behind Watson. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Just Added Backfield Depth That Could Matter Faster Than Expected
Clevelands practice squad took on a little more relevance with the addition of running back Jaleel McLaughlin, a familiar NFL name who was recently released by the Broncos. For a Browns team still shaping its backfield hierarchy, the move gives the club another experienced option in a room that already includes Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson and Raheim Sanders, while also rounding out the kind of depth every offense needs once the season starts grinding forward.
McLaughlin lands in a spot where opportunities can open quickly if the Browns need a call-up or a different look behind the top backs. Practice squad additions are often filed away as housekeeping, but this one carries a little more intrigue because of where Cleveland is at in building out its running game and how fast a backup can become part of the conversation when injuries or game-day needs change. [Read more 🡒]
Browns QB Chaos Just Fueled A Veteran Trade Debate
With Deshaun Watson still listed as the starter and Dillon Gabriel already on injured reserve, the Browns quarterback room has become the kind of unsettled situation that naturally invites outside ideas. One recent mock-trade concept pushed that uncertainty even further, floating a scenario in which Cleveland would send Gabriel and a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick to Atlanta for Tua Tagovailoa.
It is purely a thought experiment, not a confirmed report, but it taps into the bigger conversation around how Cleveland should handle its long-running QB uncertainty. For a team that has spent plenty of time trying to stabilize the position, even an off-the-wall proposal like this lands because it speaks to a very real need for answers, and the next move remains anything but settled. [Read more 🡒]