Browns out to find next later-round draft gem

The Cleveland Browns no longer have a first-round pick in this month’s NFL draft, but they still expect to select a player a little later who will become a significant contributor for them.

Instead of going on the clock at 13th overall the night of April 28, the Browns aren’t scheduled to pick until the second round (44th overall) on April 29.

That’s because they shipped six picks, including a first-round choice in each of the next three drafts, to the Houston Texans in the controversial March 18 trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski recently compared first-round picks to gold, illustrating the high price the franchise was willing to pay for Watson, despite the three-time Pro Bowl selection facing 22 ongoing civil lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual misconduct or sexual assault during massage appointments.

In the aftermath of the Watson deal, the Browns are left hoping general manager Andrew Berry flourishes in the second round again. Last year, he traded up to draft Jeremiah Owusukoramoah at No. 52 overall, and now the Browns consider the linebacker from Notre Dame one of their top young players.

“From my study of this, I think there’s going to be good players available. I really do,” Stefanski said. “I think there will be a good player for us there in the second round. At what position, I’m not sure at this point. But I’m pretty confident that Andrew and his staff will find a guy that can help us.”

Lacking a first-round pick won’t change the Browns’ draft preparation much, Berry said, because they must be ready for the unexpected.

“We can have an educated guess on some of the players won’t be available to us by 44, but by the same token, we want to make sure that we complete the work on all the prospects who are on our front board,” Berry said. “A perfect example of that is JOK.

“We didn’t necessarily expect him to be there in 52, and so you do have situations like that where you don’t all the sudden abort the work that you’re going to do on a player just because you think he may not be there. There are surprises every year. So our prep process will remain the same, and we’ll kind of zero in and finalize that over the course of the next month.”

Defensive line and wide receiver are still the Browns’ most glaring needs, and ESPN’S Todd Mcshay outlined some potential fits he believes could be available for Berry at No. 44.

Mcshay mentioned Houston’s Logan Hall, Connecticut’s Travis Jones and Alabama’s Phidarian Mathis as options at defensive tackle.

An edge rusher Mcshay singled out as a logical second-round target is Oklahoma’s Nik Bonitto.

Browns picks:

Round 2: No. 44; Round 3: No. 78, No. 99; Round 4: No. 118; Round 5: No. 155; Round 6: No.193; Round 7: No. 223.