Browns draft position, opponents set for 2022

The Cleveland Browns closed out the 2021 regular season this past weekend, and with no playoff game on tap, the club is turning its attention to the offseason.

The close of the regular season also established the draft order for the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft for the non-playoff teams as well as the schedule for the 2022 season.

The Browns will be selecting at No. 13 in the first round of the draft when it opens on April 28 in Las Vegas. Cleveland ended in a three-way tie with the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens at 8-9, and landed between the Vikings (No. 12) and Ravens (No. 14) based on strength of schedule.

If they stay there, it will be the seventh time in franchise history that the Browns have selected a player at No. 13. The best pick of the group was running back Eric Metcalf in 1989, with linebacker Kamerion Wimbley (2006 after swapping picks with the Ravens) coming in a distant second.

In all, Cleveland will have eight selections in the draft, including a fourth-round selection from the Detroit Lions that they picked up in the trade that allowed them to select linebacker Tony Fields II in the fifth-round of last year’s draft.

On the scheduling side, in addition to the annual home-and-home meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Ravens, the Browns will face the AFC East, NFC South and the third-place teams from the AFC West, AFC South and NFC East.

The home schedule includes:

• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Los Angeles Chargers
• New England Patriots
• New Orleans Saints
• New York Jets
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The road schedule includes:

• Atlanta Falcons
• Ravens
• Buffalo Bills
• Carolina Panthers
• Bengals
• Houston Texans
• Miami Dolphins
• Steelers
• Washington Football Team

Even though the Browns were a disappointment this season, next year’s schedule offers several games that could be attractive to a national audience. In addition to the divisional games, the home tilts against the Chargers and Buccaneers, and the road game against the Bills, could land a primetime or national spot depending on how much the networks still believe in the Browns.