Cleveland

Browns

Kirchner spent the last 16 seasons working for the Seahawks alongside the Vikings’ recently hired GM Nolan Teasley. Kirchner spent the last seven seasons as the Seahawks’ vice president of player personnel and “is widely regarded as one of the NFL’s top talent evaluators.” The Vikings also hired Andrew Healy as an assistant general manager. He previously served as the Browns’ vice president of research and strategy and will now serve as the team’s secondary football executive.

Per Jackson, organized team activities and mandatory minicamp “offered clues” about Monken’s use of motion and how he plans to “hunt mismatches in the quick passing game and use misdirection to create space and passing lanes for the quarterback.” That said, Jackson also believes that either TE Harold Fannin or fellow rookie WR Denzel Boston will be the “leading receiver.” It remains to be seen whether Monken will actually dial up a high target volume for an X-receiver like Boston. He featured WR Zay Flowers, who Concepcion has been likened to, as the top target-earning wide receiver with the Ravens. If Concepcion only gets a few designed looks per game, it will be tough for him to produce reliably in fantasy. If he can be more than that, even while earning targets behind Fannin while Boston stretches the field, Concepcion can return FLEX value in his first season.

This means that Fannin missed all of organized team activities and mandatory minicamp, which is slightly concerning. Fannin’s only injury, on record, is the groin injury he suffered during a Week 17 practice, which limited him to less than one quarter of play through the season’s final two weeks. We hope to get word on whatever is ailing him by the time training camp rolls around. For what it’s worth, Jackson seemed unbothered by Fannin’s absence and expects him to compete for the No. 1 pass-catcher role. We do, too. He has decent odds of winning the role.

The Deshaun Watson experiment hasn’t gone as the Browns hoped when they traded for him in 2022 and signed him to a record-setting four-year, $230 million contract. Watson’s performance on the field has been underwhelming, and the torn Achilles he suffered in 2024 kept him on the sidelines for all of 2025. Despite this, the 30-year-old signal-caller is in the midst of a battle with Shedeur Sanders for the Browns’ QB1 job this season, and Berry sounds open to the possibility of Watson not only playing for the team in 2026 but also in the future. Berry didn’t rule out Watson signing a new deal with the team after this year and said, “I think you have to be open-minded and flexible” when it comes to the quarterback position. It’s hard to imagine Watson remaining with the Browns beyond this season, given how things have gone so far, but for an organization that has started over 40 different QBs since 2000, it would seem that all options truly could be on the table. Regardless of who wins the Browns’ QB1 job to start the year, we would expect to see both Watson and Sanders at some point.

Cleveland’s Mary Kay Cabot reports that Jeudy “felt something in his hamstring today,” so he sat out. Coach Todd Monken made clear that he does not give veterans rest days right now, so if a player sits, it’s because they are being cautious with an injury. Today was the Browns’ final mandatory minicamp practice. They will now go on break until training camp begins in July. Early in May, Cabot reported that the team is hoping Jeudy reclaims his WR1 role this season. Browns rookie WRs KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston have been taking full rotations with both the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive groups. Yesterday, ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi reported Boston “has been one of the Browns’ standouts this summer.” Get well soon, Jeudy. The youngsters look promising.

Monken noted that this is easy to say now, because the team is not practicing in pads. That said, Monken opined that “it feels like he’s making quicker decisions” and that the ball is coming out of his hands faster, which he has to continue doing on game days. Monken adds that Sanders possesses playmaking ability, but he needs to “eliminate lost-yards plays.” It sounds like Sanders’ to-do list is fairly straightforward. The battle between him and QB Deshaun Watson continues.

Boston (6'4/210) was viewed as a classic, downfield X-receiver pre-draft, possessing the “ability to make tough catches downfield.” Boston successfully high-pointed a pass from QB Deshaun Watson today, producing what Oyefusi referred to as the top highlight at Wednesday’s practice. Boston has also “been a reliable pass catcher on short and intermediate routes” thus far. If he can keep it up, he has a chance to earn a starting role early in his career.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport adds that Concepcion’s fully guaranteed rookie contract is worth roughly $20 million. Earlier today, we got word that Concepcion and fellow rookie WR Denzel Boston are already taking full rotations with both the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive groups, which is good news. Browns WR Jerry Jeudy currently occupies the No. 1 spot, but that could change if one of the two rookies pens a strong case this summer.

Shedeur Sanders took the initial reps with the first team, giving him a hair-width advantage, but Deshaun Watson will get to work with the ones tomorrow and both players will split reps on Thursday. Even when this job is initially won, it sure doesn’t seem like the winner will have much of a leash, making both players risky fantasy football picks both now and in best ball.

Unless Bond can make a real move on Jerry Jeudy, we imagine he’ll probably split reps with Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion early in the season, leaving him as more of a deep-league stash. Still, after he went undrafted last year due to a sexual assault accusation, it appears the Browns think pretty highly of him and he’ll likely finish training camp as someone with an easy roster spot.