Cleveland Browns NFL Draft Live Blog (Day 3) - Rumors, Picks, and More

It is Saturday, and that means rounds 4-7 of the 2020 NFL Draft will take place for the Cleveland Browns and the rest of the teams in the NFL. The action starts at 12:00 PM ET, and teams will have 5 minutes to make their selections (compensatory picks will last 4 minutes).

We will have all of your Browns-related coverage on the draft here at Dawgs By Nature throughout the weekend. This thread will act as a “live blog,” with updates about the latest small rumors, picks, or trades involving Cleveland or other NFL teams. You should also use the comments section as your NFL Draft open thread! (Newest updates will be at the top of the live blog below)

Browns NFL Draft Live Blog

8:00 PM: Our undrafted free agent tracker for the Browns can be found here.

4:10 PM: Although the Browns’ draft day may be done, the work isn’t over. After the draft, teams will begin signing undrafted free agents.

The Browns had 68 players on their roster heading into the draft and were projected to draft 7 players. With 75 players total, the maximum they are allowed to have is 90 players. Therefore, the Browns could try to sign about 15 players tonight. We will have our annual undrafted free agent tracker up-and-running for that around 6:40 PM, which is when the draft should end.

4:05 PM: With the 187th pick in the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns 6th round selection is WR Donovan Peoples-Jones. Our write-up on the selection is here, and you can vote on the pick below.

2:50 PM: With the 160th pick in the NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns 5th round selection is OL Nick Harris. Our write-up on the selection is here, and you can vote on the pick below:

1:36 PM: The Browns’ next pick will be at No. 160 in the 5th round. Their original pick would’ve been at No. 155, but they gave that up last season in the deal to acquire OL Wyatt Teller. Cleveland acquired No. 160 for free basically in the trade down with the Colts in the 2nd round.

12:40 PM: Some more praise for the Browns’ new tight end, who has had great receiving grades. Brent Sobleski also made a point that I often like to make — if Bryant was picked at the end of the third round yesterday, and Jacob Phillips was picked here, the perception of Phillips being drafted too early wouldn’t be as much of a story.

12:34 PM: With their first selection of the day, the Browns pick tight end Harrison Bryant from Florida Atlantic. Our article on the selection is here. You can also vote in the poll below. Wouldn’t you know it — our morning draft tracker actually paid off too!

12:10 PM: There it goes! OT Trent Williams has finally been traded, and he’s headed to the San Francisco 49ers. The Redskins’ waiting game did not pay off in terms of compensation, and the 49ers are the benefactor. This is the type of deal I expected Cleveland to make, had they not drafted an offensive tackle in the first round. Round 3 is underway, by the way.

11:25 AM: Philadelphia fans are not exactly enamored with the decision to select Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, according to Will Brinson of CBS Sports:

10:30 AM: Andy Benoit at Sports Illustrated handed out grades for the selections in Rounds 2 and 3, and here is how he graded Cleveland’s picks:

Safety Grant Delpit - B+: Delpit is rangy and athletically diverse. His draft stock tumbled from a high first-round projection last season after missing too many tackles and taking too many poor angles in run defense. Such mistakes are especially problematic in Cover 4, where the safeties are often solely responsible for a run gap along the edges.

Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott - C: Elliott intrigues with his potential as a pass rusher, where scouts believe his development hinges on whether he can continue to build on his effective hand usage. One concern: The Browns don’t have a lot of gap-penetrating depth at D-tackle, and Elliott might not have the initial quickness to change that.

Linebacker Jacob Phillips - C: Don’t be surprised if the Browns take one more linebacker at some point, just to give themselves more options. As it stands, they have a nice three-down player in 2019 fifth-rounder Mack Wilson and possibly in 2019 third-rounder Sione Takitaki, but aside from ex-Packers thumper B.J. Goodson, they have no other proven players here. Even if they’re high on former Giants pass defending linebacker Tae Davis, they need more options.

10:00 AM: Pro Football Focus ranks the top prospects still available heading into Day 3 of the NFL Draft.

9:57 AM: Per Adam Caplan of SiriusXM, the Browns and the Jets are two teams who have been mentioned by other teams as ones that have had impressive selection + value combination.

9:54 AM: Here is what Dane Brugler of The Athletic thinks of the Browns’ draft so far:

7:45 AM: One thing that I really miss is that this is the first year we haven’t posted a “Browns Draft Tracker” of prospects who the team met with or were rumored to have met. I could have dug deep and tried to list a few people, but it was just...different this year, with so many things having to be virtual instead of in-person.

Each team was able to conduct 30 virtual interviews via FaceTime, Zoom, etc. We don’t have a lot of those names, but Walter Football and a few other sources helped guide us to a few. Teams also met with people in-person at the NFL Combine or earlier events. Some of the names have already been drafted, so I’m listing the ones who are still available.

7:30 AM: Here are the three draft picks the Cleveland Browns have left today:

• 4th Round: No. 115 overall (9th of the round)
• 5th Round: No. 160 overall (14th of the round)
• 6th Round: No. 187 overall (8th of the round)

Immediately following the draft, teams will be trying to sign undrafted free agents. We will cover that in a separate thread as we always do. However, unlike previous years, there will probably be much fewer names because teams are not in position to host rookie tryouts.

Also, if you missed any of our Day 2 live blog, check it out here.