Browns’ former first round pick named a contract to watch that could be traded during the 2025 NFL season

Coming off a season in which they won just three games—a steep drop after making the playoffs the year prior—the pressure is on the Cleveland Browns to show improvement and get back on track in 2025.

Much of the attention is on the quarterback position and finding consistent, positive play there. However, for the Browns to truly improve, their defense must return closer to its 2023 form.

The defense’s performance over the first month or two of the season could also impact the future of one former first-round pick.

CB Greg Newsome II is a contract to watch and could be a trade candidate 

Cleveland selected Newsome with the No. 26 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Prior to taking Mason Graham this year, Newsome was the most recent first-round pick the team had made. He has started 42 of the 54 games he’s played over the past four seasons, shifting from boundary corner to primarily covering the slot. According to The Athletic’s Zac Jackson, he thinks that Newsome could be moved before November.

“Newsome is playing 2025 on his fully guaranteed fifth-year option worth a little over $13 million. That’s fine for now from a pure numbers standpoint, as the Browns are counting on their defense to spark a turnaround in 2025. But Newsome doesn’t start in the base defense, and the fifth-year option structure means the Browns would incur no dead money if they traded him before November. Both Newsome and Martin Emerson Jr., the team’s No. 2 cornerback, are only signed through 2025. If the Browns can only choose one for the future—given their cap issues—Newsome could be moved strictly based on the savings and 2026 cap rollover a trade would create.” — Zac Jackson

Cleveland could find itself in a position where it must choose between extending either Newsome or Emerson—whichever player they project to be the better long-term option. With both corners entering contract years, the Browns will need to keep at least one of them opposite Denzel Ward.