Like wishing you Happy New Year on Jan. 2, Merry Christmas on Dec. 26 or Happy Fourth of July on the 5th of July, we welcome you, Browns fans , to the start of 2024 NFL Draft.

The draft, of course, officially started on Thursday evening with the first round only, but since the Browns, for the third straight year, didn’t have a first-round pick because of the 2022 trade with the Houston Texans for quarterback Deshaun Watson, the draft begins for Cleveland, in essence on Friday night when the second and third rounds will be held.

The positives of all this? Perhaps that, just like on Dec. 26 with the Christmas items, the draft merchandise might be discounted. Consult your local dealer for details.

It’s interesting to read it, hear it and think about it, to be sure, because everything about the draft, a sport within a sport, is interesting to football fans, but at the same time, you still have to laugh and shake your head when the draft prognosticators predict weeks before the draft what’s going to happen in rounds two and three and beyond.

That is impossible to do with any degree of accuracy, because if something weird happens in round one, then it sets off a domino effect for everything else that will happen after it.

Let’s just say this: like every team in the NFL, the Browns have needs at all the positions. There is no perfect roster in the league, and then includes with the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, who desperately need some wide receivers. With that, then, the Browns will be addressing a need with anybody they select on Friday, or, for that matter, the rest of the draft, which concludes Saturday with rounds three through seven.

So, enjoy, and don’t get too fixated on any single thought or belief, because just about anything can — and does — happen once the No. 1 overall pick is made. As such, chaos to some degree likely has already ensued Thursday night.

In any event, if you’re thinking ahead, all the draft merchandise will almost certainly be discounted beginning Sunday, which, for draftniks, will be the first day after the end of their biggest holiday of the year.

Steve King