Browns GM Andrew Berry praises Travis Hunter, Jalen Milroe, remains coy on draft plans

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Predictably, no real news or strategy-based insight came out of Browns general manager Andrew Berry’s standard pre-draft news conference Thursday. Berry never likes to reveal much, understandably, and a week from the start of the NFL Draft would make an awkward place to change that.

The mystery involved with the draft begins with the Browns’ pick at No. 2. Miami quarterback Cam Ward has long been expected to go to Tennessee at No. 1, leaving the Browns to decide if they also want a quarterback, want to bolster their defense with Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter or try to add a potential cornerstone piece to both their offense and defense with Colorado’s Travis Hunter.

A trade out of that spot remains an option, Berry acknowledged, but it’s long felt an unlikely one. The Browns figure to pick either Hunter or Carter, then move forward with their quarterback search at pick No. 33 atop the second round.

But Berry stressed — again — that the Browns won’t “force” a quarterback pick “if we don’t think the value is necessarily there.”

With the emphasis on staying out of the prediction business and more in the translation of Berry’s intentionally vague answers, here are some of the other issues Berry discussed — and some of the more noteworthy quotes we may revisit over the coming weeks and months.

The quarterback spot

The Browns last week signed 40-year-old Joe Flacco. In March, they acquired Kenny Pickett in a trade. With both Flacco and Pickett only signed through 2025 and Deshaun Watson injured and almost certainly out of the team’s immediate and long-term plans, the Browns are going to draft a quarterback.

As noted above, Berry has repeatedly said that while quarterback is “the most important position,” the Browns are preparing for a full draft and a number of different draft plans. He said Flacco’s addition doesn’t change how the Browns view any quarterback prospect or their overall urgency to select a rookie quarterback.

“We firmly believe that it’s not about picking a player who’s ready to contribute now,” Berry said. “It’s about trying to find the player that you think is going to be the best. Patrick Mahomes sat his whole first year. Josh Allen, it really took to year three for him to become Josh Allen. You know, Lamar (Jackson) probably hit the ground running pretty quickly (but) Jalen Hurts, like there were doubts about him until he probably hit year three. So, quarterbacks mature and grow at their own pace and our thought isn’t in terms of immediacy but making the best long-term bet.”

Unsurprisingly, Berry said he expected the Browns to hold a summer quarterback competition and that every player in the quarterback room “will have the chance to compete to become the starter.”

Noteworthy remarks on two prospects

The Browns like Hunter. Of course they do. Berry did little to hide from that, saying that Hunter has “elite conditioning” and that Hunter playing over 100 snaps in most college games was “quite incredible.” He kept the hyperbole meter turned up later when he compared Hunter to Major League Baseball star Shohei Ohtani and said “you obviously get a unicorn if you use them both ways.”

Berry said Hunter has rare ball skills and reiterated what he’d said in January, that the Browns were open to Hunter playing both ways but believed he’d be first utilized on offense where he’d have the ball in his hands.

“That’s just what we think he’s better at,” Berry said. “He’s great at both. I want to be clear: he’s great at both. I think that (saying he’s a wide receiver first) got a little bit of unfair traction last time I talked about this.”

Speaking of fairness, Berry didn’t just start gushing about Hunter. He was asked multiple questions early in the news conference about Hunter and gave what we presume are honest answers. Later, he was asked specifically about Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe and delivered another noteworthy answer.

“Jalen has rare physical talent,” Berry said. “He may be the only quarterback that when he gets in the NFL, (he’s) faster than Lamar (Jackson). Don’t tell Lamar I said that, please.

“(Milroe) has rare physical gifts. He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s got a really strong arm. And any system that you build around him, you want to take advantage of the fact that he has things that no other players at the position have.”

Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees called plays for Milroe at Alabama in 2023, and Browns special teams coach Bubba Ventrone was the head coach for Milroe’s team at the Senior Bowl. Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart was also on that team, and by now the Browns have invested hundreds of hours into researching potential quarterbacks — not just one to whom they’ve had either previous or extra exposure.

“Honestly, the feeling (in the building right now) is not pressure. It’s excitement,” Berry said. “Probably similar to the quarterback response, it’s not about focusing on, ‘OK, well who can hit the ground running the fastest?’ It’s focused on who can be the best at maturity and that’s how we’ll approach it.”

Open for business?

Berry said the Browns are done conducting private workouts for draft prospects and have moved into what he calls “scenario planning” and “strategy planning” in attempting to finalize their draft plans. The team held private workouts and meetings with quarterbacks Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Milroe, Dart and Tyler Shough. Hunter and his family met with the Browns’ contingent that traveled to Colorado earlier this month for Sanders’ private workout and the Colorado pro day workout that featured Sanders throwing to Hunter.

Carter has not worked out for any NFL team, but he visited Cleveland. Berry and Browns owner Jimmy Haslam were part of a group that had dinner with Carter and Carter’s parents in State College on March 27. Berry declined to get into specifics about Carter’s injury situation but said the Browns’ medical staff doesn’t have concerns about Carter having any long-term injury concerns.

As he did previously, Berry referenced “using the whole shot clock” to say that the Browns will keep their thinking and potential options open until they have to turn in their pick on April 24.

“We have not made a hard decision in terms of how we’re going to utilize the No. 2 pick,” Berry said. “There are a number of guys we like.”

(Photo of Travis Hunter: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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