Browns S Ronnie Hickman Signs Second-Round RFA Tender
In March, the Browns elected to keep restricted free agent safety Ronnie Hickman in the fold by applying a second-round RFA tender. That one-year deal has now been signed.
Hickman is officially on the books, the Browns announced on Thursday. The 24-year-old is due to collect $5.77MM in 2026 as a result. That represents a sharp raise in pay compared to Hickman’s first three years in the NFL, and it illustrates his importance to Cleveland’s defense in at least the near term.
During his first NFL season, the former undrafted free agent made an impact on defense while operating in a part-time role and also chipping in on special teams. Hickman saw an uptick in usage during the 2024 campaign, and he continued to impress. That helped pave the way for full-time starting gig in 2025.
Hickman appeared in every game for Cleveland last year, easily setting new career highs in many categories. The Ohio State product notched 103 tackles, a pair of interceptions and seven pass deflections. Expectations will be high for a strong follow-up season in 2026, and another productive campaign would of course help Hickman’s case for a long-term Browns commitment.
The deadline for players attached to an RFA tender to sign an offer sheet from an outside team has long passed. The Browns would have received a second-round pick as compensation for Hickman inking an unmatched offer sheet earlier this offseason, but they will prepare for at least one more season of him playing a key role in the secondary. Cleveland still has Grant Delpit in the fold and the team added Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in the second round of the draft, but Hickman figures to spend at least one more season as an important contributor at the safety spot.
Todd Monken: Browns’ QB Competition To Continue Into Training Camp
The Browns have split first-team reps at the quarterback position this spring, with new head coach Todd Monken preferring to have a clearly-defined starter in place by the end of June’s minicamp. Instead, the competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders is set to continue.
“I’m not going to name a No. 1,” Monken said on Tuesday (via Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot) when speaking about the timeline for a decision. “I shouldn’t say that. Chances are I will not. Now, once we get to the fall, we’ll have to dissect the reps how we see fit. I just don’t see it after the way Shedeur’s played and the way Deshaun’s played. They both played well enough to earn out the right to compete to start.”
Barring a surprise turnaround in the next day or two, Cleveland’s minicamp – and thus all spring offseason work – will wrap up without any clarity at the QB spot. Sanders took over first-team duties late in his rookie season, but Watson has managed to recover from the pair of Achilles tears which kept him sidelined through the 2025 campaign. Both passers face the possibility of a high draft investment next April, but for now attention will be focused on their performances in camp.
Watson is on the books for one more season as things stand, with his most recent restructure setting up a widely expected post-June 1 release in 2027. However, the much-maligned trade acquisition is open to staying in Cleveland beyond this season. Watson, who will turn 31 early in the coming campaign, has totaled just 19 appearances over the course of his Browns tenure.
Sanders was initially seen as the favorite with respect to the Browns’ QB1 gig in 2027. Watson has, however, more recently pulled into the lead. Questions about the involvement of ownership on this front have dated back to the blockbuster swap (and fully guaranteed extension) that brought Watson into the fold, and they will no doubt continue if the ex-Houston Pro Bowler finds himself atop the depth chart in Week 1.
Sanders fell to the fifth round of last year’s draft and did not take any first-team reps during training camp as Cleveland sorted through a logjam of passers. The trades sending Kenny Pickett, and then Joe Flacco, out of the organization led to a brief starting stint for fellow 2025 draftee Dillon Gabriel. That was followed by Sanders closing out the season with seven starts. The 24-year-old has drawn praise from Monken and Co. so far, and his rookie contract runs through 2028.
Last week’s Myles Garrett trade added further to Cleveland’s draft capital in 2027 and beyond. Whether or not a Day 1 QB selection is pursued next April will surely be influenced in large part by the play of Watson and Sanders, but the pecking order between those two will not be settled until the summer.
G Joel Bitonio Retires
Joel Bitonio‘s future remained uncertain throughout the 2026 offseason. Another Browns contract remained something the team was open to, but the decorated guard has elected to hang up his cleats at the age of 34.
“Truthfully, as time passed and my career kept going, there was never a point where I could envision myself in a different uniform,” Bitonio said in a statement on Tuesday. “Wearing that orange helmet and being part of this franchise – from getting drafted to signing three contracts – I felt a loyalty to the Browns, and it gave me a sense of pride to represent a fan base who is consistently loyal to us. I started the job here, and once I got to a certain point, I knew I wanted to finish the job in Cleveland.
“Now that job is finished. After 12 seasons of wearing No. 75 in brown and orange, I have officially decided to retire.”
For multiple years, retirement has been a talking point in Bitonio’s case. The seven-time Pro Bowler managed to play out the entirety of his three-year extension signed in 2021, and he agreed to delay the void date on his expiring pact in February. Remaining on the open market well into the spring, Bitonio could have easily explored his options with respect to other teams. To no surprise, though, he has chosen to end his playing career after playing exclusively in Cleveland.
A second-round pick in 2014, Bitonio immediately took on a starting role during his rookie season. He remained a fixture at the left guard spot through this past season, performing as one of the league’s best interior blockers along the way. The Nevada product was a Pro Bowler every year from 2018-24, and he earned an All-Pro nod (second-team on three occasions, first-team twice) during the first five seasons of that stretch.
Partnering with Wyatt Teller over a seven-year period, Bitonio was a key figure on one of the league’s top interior offensive lines for much of his career. Teller departed in free agency, adding him to the long list of blockers from 2025 who are no longer in place for Cleveland. The team kept the door open to a new Bitonio deal, but his retirement will leave a challenging vacancy to fill moving forward as the Browns proceed with a completely revamped O-line.
In all, Bitonio totaled 180 combined regular and postseason appearances, starting every one of them. His NFL tenure will come to an end after he amassed just over $107MM in career earnings.
Browns Complete Draft Class Signings With 1st-Round WR KC Concepcion
The Browns have now signed their full 2026 draft class to rookie deal. First-round receiver KC Concepcion has put pen to paper on his first professional contract, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Concepcion, 21, was the No. 24 pick in April’s draft. He is set to earn just over $20MM in fully guaranteed money across the next four years, including a signing bonus worth roughly $11MM, per OverTheCap.
All first-rounders have fully guaranteed contracts with values that are set by the CBA’s rookie pay scale. That leaves less to be negotiated between player and team, though payment schedules have become a common battleground. The Browns came to terms with Spencer Fano, their other first-round pick, and the rest of their draft class far quicker than with Concepcion, indicating there were a few sticking points in his deal.
Now, all 10 of the Browns’ 2026 draft picks are under contract for the next four years, including Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston, who went in the second round, 15 picks after Concepcion Boston was viewed as a potential first-round talent by some, as was Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, who Cleveland traded up to snag at No. 58 overall.
That core quartet represents a second strong draft in a row for Browns general Andrew Berry. Last year’s No. 5 pick, Mason Graham, did not flash as a rookie but still profiles as a long-term anchor for the defensive line. Second-round linebacker Carson Schwesinger was named Defensive Rookie of the Year, and fellow Day 2 picks Quinshon Judkins and Harold Fannin both carved out clear roles in the offense moving forward. If either Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders can evolve into a competent starter – or the team finally lands their long-awaited franchise QB in the 2027 draft – the Browns would seem to have all the pieces to finally move back into playoff contention in the next few years.
Browns HC Todd Monken Not Interested In QB Brendan Sorsby; Latest On Team’s QB Competition
Browns head coach Todd Monken is not tipping his hand when it comes to his team’s starting quarterback competition. While the media currently views Deshaun Watson as the favorite to open the season under center, second-year passer Shedeur Sanders remains in the mix and has impressed Monken with his progress in the mental side of the game.
Following the Browns’ eighth OTA session on Wednesday, Monken said (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com), “[e]very day I kind of lean one way or the other with quarterbacks. But we’ve still got to get to that point. Who’s going to start for us? But I’m fired up by the quarterbacks. I just tell you, we’ve got two starting-level quarterbacks. We really do.”
Monken’s public remarks notwithstanding, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler continues to believe Watson has the inside track on the QB1 gig (video link). In addition to the advantage Watson has in terms of experience, Watson himself believes Monken’s offense – which includes some Air Raid concepts and offers the freedom to improvise out of the pocket – is a strong fit for his skill set. That said, Fowler says Sanders has flashed this spring and that Watson has not won the job just yet.
Regardless of the outcome of the Watson v. Sanders contest, Cleveland may still be in search of a high-end quarterback next year (which is presumably one of the reasons why the team recently cashed in their top asset in Myles Garrett for a bounty of draft capital). On paper, therefore, the Browns profile as a team that could take a flier on Brendan Sorsby, whose gambling infractions have led the NCAA to revoke his collegiate eligibility and who could be forced into the NFL’s supplemental draft as a result.
Monken, however, seems to want no part of Sorsby, although he made it clear his opinion in that regard is his own and not that of general manager Andrew Berry or other members of team brass.
“That’s not even come across my desk,” Monken said (video link via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan). “I like the quarterbacks that we have. I think that’s a slippery slope, when you go down that [road]. Irrespective of talent, in terms of the situation [Sorsby’s] put himself in, we all know what that is. He put himself in that situation. And we’ve seen in other sports with players that have been banned for life from playing in professional sports.”
“Again, that’s a question for [Berry] and for management,” Monken added. “But from my end of it, kind of a tough angle to go down that road and think that’s going to be your franchise quarterback, if he’s ever eligible to even play in the NFL.”
Berry himself was non-committal. When asked about the prospect of adding Sorsby, the GM simply said, “we’ll do work on all the prospects and then make the appropriate decision” (via Zac Jackson of The Athletic).
Sorsby impressed in his second year as Cincinnati’s starter in 2025 and landed a $6MM NIL deal to join Texas Tech in 2026. A successful year in Lubbock could have earned him a first-round grade in the 2027 draft, but at the moment, it appears the supplemental draft is his only viable path to the pros.
Sorsby will have to apply for the supplemental draft by June 22. The NFL will review his situation – extensive sports betting during his college career and subsequent treatment for a gambling addiction – and decide if he can enter.
Browns’ 3% Sale To Private Equity Firm Approved
In August of 2024, NFL owners voted to permit private equity firms to purchase up to 10-percent stake in NFL teams with a minimum purchase of at least three percent for each stake. Back in May of this year, at the Orlando owners meeting, a vote was passed to approve the Browns’ sale of three percent of the team to Arctos Partners, LP, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
Arctos, based out of Dallas, is one of only a few private equity firms permitted by the league to purchase a stake in NFL teams, alongside “Ares Management Corporation, Sixth Street, and a consortium group including Blackstone, Carlyle, CVC, Dynasty Equity, and Ludis, led by Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin.”
The firms are able to hold stake in up to six teams but won’t hold voting power in any of them. Arctos owns eight percent of the Chargers and 10 percent of the Bills, along with minority stakes in the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Golden State Warriors.
According to Forbes magazine, the Browns hold the 18th-highest valuation in the NFL and 28th-highest of all sports franchises in the world. The publication valued the team at $6.4 billion, meaning Arctos’ stake should be worth $190MM. The team’s value recently saw a boost after the team committed another $200MM to their new plans for a $2.6 billion indoor stadium that broke ground in Brook Park at the end of April and is set to open in 2029.
The Haslam Sports Group originally committed to a $1.2 billion contribution which would have represented half of the proposed budget at the time of $2.4 billion. After initially upping only their contribution, the latest $200MM influx is intended to increase both the percentage of contribution to 67.5 percent and the budget for the project to $2.6 billion.
AFC Staff Changes: Titans, Dolphins, Browns
The Titans have made a few more additions to their front office, per a team announcement.
Daryl Nelson has come aboard as the senior director of player development and performance integration. From 2023 to 2025, he served as the Raiders’ director of team growth and development, per his LinkedIn. He previously worked for the Patriots from 2016 to 2023 with five years in the athletic training department and one as New England’s director of organizational development.
Nelson’s new role will involve coordinating between the Titans’ coaching, analytics, and athletic training departments to advance the development of their young roster. His background as a trainer will obviously contribute to this effort. In Las Vegas, he also prioritized players’ off-field education and overall well-being.
The Titans also hired Kwame Agyei-Minta and Jacob Reeves as scouting assistants. Agyei-Minta has worked for the University of South Carolina since 2023, primarily as a player personnel and recruiting assistant with a promotion to assistant director of scouting earlier this year (via LinkedIn). Reeves, a former defensive lineman at Southeastern University, was formerly an intern with the Falcons and the NFL’s BLESTO scouting service. His most recent role was as the assistant director of college personnel at the University of Florida, a position he held for the last three years.
Here is the latest from the AFC staffing ranks:
- Tennessee is also expecting the eventual departure of assistant special teams coach Rayna Stewart. Special teams coordinator John Fassell said (via Main Street Media’s Terry McCormick) that he fought to keep Stewart amid the Titans’ coaching changes this offseason but believes he should get a chance at his own coordinator job in the near future.
- The Dolphins have hired former Rice University intern Savan Patel as a football analytics staff assistant, per Neal Stratton of InsideTheLeague. Patel worked in video operations, recruiting, and scouting at Rice dating back to 2022 and also interned with the MLB’s Houston Astros in 2025.
- The Browns are promoting Josh Meyer from scouting assistant to West Coast area scout, according to Stratton. Meyer previously worked in personnel and recruiting at the University of Michigan.
- Cleveland also promoted Kathleen Wood to scouting assessment and development advisor (via Stratton). She has held a similar role since 2024; for four years before that, she was an Northeast area scout. Wood also has past experience with the Dolphins, Bills, and Eagles.
Browns Expected To Retain Denzel Ward
JUNE 6: When speaking to the media on Saturday, Ward confirmed (via Fowler’s colleague Daniel Oyefusi) he wants to remain in place with the Browns. Despite the fact he is no longer teammates with Garrett for the first time in his NFL career, Ward can be expected to stay in Cleveland for a ninth season.
JUNE 1: The Browns agreed to trade longtime face of the franchise Myles Garrett in a stunning blockbuster with the Rams on Monday. It is unlikely the Garrett trade will start a fire sale in Cleveland, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com. Veteran cornerback Denzel Ward is one player who is expected to stay put, Fowler reports.
Considering Ward’s relationship with Garrett, it will be interesting to hear his opinion on the trade (if he offers one publicly). Back when Garrett asked out of Cleveland in February 2025, Ward said: “[The request] has a huge impact, honestly. I want to play with Myles Garrett.”
Ward got his wish for 2025 after Garrett quickly backed off his trade request to sign a contract extension. The pact could have kept Garrett in a Browns uniform through 2030, but the rebuilding club will now replace the future Hall of Famer with Jared Verse and add significant draft capital in the process.
There is an obvious drop-off from Garrett to Verse, which is certainly not a knock on the latter. In his two seasons in the NFL, Verse has collected Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and a pair of Pro Bowl nods. The budding star should give the Browns a productive defender who is five years younger than Garrett and much less expensive. So, while Ward may prefer to play with Garrett, Verse is no slouch.
Like Garrett and Verse, Ward has enjoyed a decorated career. Since the Browns took Ward fourth overall in 2018,, the Ohio native and former Ohio State Buckeye has gone to five Pro Bowls. Despite intercepting a career-low one pass over 15 games in 2025, he earned Pro Bowl honors for the third straight season. The 29-year-old has started 107 of 110 games as a Brown, deflected 104 passes and picked off 18. If he remains in Cleveland for a ninth year in 2026, Ward will continue to start opposite Tyson Campbell.
Contractually, Ward is under wraps through 2027 on the five-year, $100.5MM extension he signed in 2022. The Browns restructured it earlier in the offseason to reduce Ward’s cap hit by $2MM, but he is still due to count $30.89MM this year. While dealing Ward would save the Browns $17.43MM in spending space this season, they would take on $13.46MM in dead money and another $18.69MM in ’27. The Browns are already set to spread $40MM-plus in dead cap from the Garrett trade over the next two years. They will also incur a combined $86.2MM charge from 2027-28 if they designate quarterback Deshaun Watson a post-June 1 release next offseason.
Myles Garrett Trade Fallout: Rams, Eagles, Carter, Browns, Verse, McCoy
The trade that sent longtime Browns defensive end Myles Garrett to the Super Bowl-hopeful Rams was a long time in the making — two months and four days, to be exact. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, that’s how long it took for negotiations between Rams general manager Les Snead and his Browns counterpart, Andrew Berry, to conclude.
This wasn’t the first time the Rams had sent an offer to Cleveland; it wasn’t even the second. Los Angeles went shopping for pass rushers around the trade deadline in 2022 and, among offers to several other teams, offered two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder for Garrett, though Berry has no interest in trading him at the time. Then, following this past season, Snead called the Browns in late March and upped the offer.
The offer purely comprising of draft capital was not going to be enough, as Cleveland made clear following the draft that Rams defensive end Jared Verse would have to be a part of any trade, but it demonstrated how serious Los Angeles was about getting a deal done.
Over the long course of these negotiations, Berry made sure to keep Garrett in the loop. Per Breer, Garrett wasn’t the only one hearing from Berry. The seventh-year GM reportedly reached out to three well-known personnel executives in other sports. St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti, and Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas were trusted for advice and expertise, especially given Bloom and Presti’s trade experience in their respective sports. The trio’s input led to the team’s insistence on getting a player — not just draft picks — in the return-side of the trade.
Before ultimately agreeing to the final terms, Jimmy Haslam and his family hosted Berry and Garrett for one last meeting to reminisce and make sure Garrett was good with how things were concluding. Garrett’s contract included a no-trade clause, so his go-ahead was a crucial part of the deal, and according to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, it was a decision Garrett needed to “sleep on” before finally waiving the no-trade clause.
In the immediate fallout of the trade, some rumors emerged that the Eagles had been a team that expressed interest in trading for Garrett and that defensive tackle Jalen Carter was a potential trade target for Cleveland. Negating that notion, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported this week that Philadelphia “never made a play” for Garrett and that “there’s zero chance they would’ve wanted (Carter) in return.”
The player the Browns did want, Verse, also had some negative feelings about being traded, not towards his new team but in regard to leaving his home of the past two seasons. After the Rams drafted Verse at No. 19 overall in 2024, Verse rewarded them with two Pro Bowl campaigns to go along with his own Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
In his introductory news conference in Cleveland (via Andy Backstrom of Yahoo Sports), Verse told the media, “I loved LA. I loved the coaches, the organization, my teammates, everybody a part of it, the fans — I loved the whole vibe of LA, the Los Angeles Rams, and it was upsetting. I was upset for a good little bit of time.”
The last tidbit of information relayed by Breer pertains to a different trade the team performed in the offseason. Los Angeles traded its second first-round pick in this past year’s draft, the 29th overall pick, to Kansas City in a package of picks that landed them Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie in return. Per Breer, the Rams had interest in Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy at the end of the first round, but when his draft stock plummeted for medical reasons, the team pivoted and made the move for McDuffie. McDuffie and Garrett now stand as two gigantic additions to a team looking to make the most of veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford‘s last few good years.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/4/26
Several NFL teams made minor transactions on Thursday. Here’s a look…
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DE Benton Whitley
Houston Texans
- Signed: TE Louie Hansen
- Waived: WR Jalen Walthall
Los Angeles Rams
- Placed on IR: OL Chad Lindberg, OLB Eddie Walls
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: WR Michael Briscoe, WR Trayvon Rudolph
- Waived: WR Joaquin Davis
New York Jets
- Signed: WR Gee Scott
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: LB Jamin Davis
- Waived: TE Chamon Metayer
Out of the 11 players listed above, Davis is the only one with a first-round pedigree. Washington took the former Kentucky Wildcat 19th overall in 2021, but his stock has plummeted during his five-year career. As a member of the Commanders for three-plus seasons, he totaled 282 tackles and seven sacks over 50 games (36 starts).
The Commanders experimented with Davis at defensive end in 2024, but it didn’t work out to their liking. They waived Davis in late October that year, and he has since gone to short stints with the Packers, Vikings, Jets and Raiders. The 27-year-old got into two games with the Raiders last season and made three tackles. Davis is now reuniting with Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, who held the same position in Las Vegas in 2025.