IT WAS A DRAFT TO FORGET FOR BROWNS

By STEVE KING

One of the most non-descript NFL Drafts in Browns history is over — mercifully so.

All of the team’s top people, including General Manager Andrew Berry, can couch it any way they want, but the fact remains that the three-day event that ended Saturday evening had all of the excitement and pizzazz of standing on the street corner and watching the traffic light change.

It wasn’t that the Browns had no first-round pick — that’s understandable, and completely OK, because it was part of the huge price to get a dynamic quarterback in Deshaun Watson — it was thar they also had no second-round selection. That’s not OK, because they traded out of No. 44 to fall back to the third round at No. 68 overall. It was at that moment that the draft become a farce for the Browns. Anything that happened after that was just white noise that makes your head hurt;

Why they didn’t put their big-boy pants on, stand in there in the second round and choose any of the outstanding players who were available at a wide variety of positions, including wide receiver and edge rusher, where they really needed help, is maddening.

The purpose of the draft is not necessarily to gather numerous picks as if walking down the street trying to find loose change. It’s to make those picks count in value,

The choice at No. 68 is not worth nearly as much as the one at No. 44 would have been. Getting a bunch of picks in the latter rounds, and for next year, does not help a team now. And the Browns are built to win now.

Are the Browns better now than they were late Thursday afternoon, just before the first round began?

No, not even on paper.

There are no clear difference-makers. There are just names and faces.

Yikes!