The Browns have selected wide receiver KC Concepcion with the No. 24 overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Concepcion, 21, spent his first two collegiate seasons at NC State before transferring to play for Texas A&M in 2025.
Concepcion caught 61 passes for 919 yards with nine touchdowns last season, becoming a first-team All-SEC honoree. He also had two punt returns for touchdowns for the Aggies.
In his 38 collegiate games, Concepcion recorded 185 catches for 2,218 yards with 25 touchdowns.
This is Cleveland’s second selection of the night, as the club drafted offensive tackle Spencer Fano at No. 9 overall. The Browns traded the No. 6 overall pick to the Chiefs to gain an additional selection in this year’s draft in the third and fifth rounds.
The Browns have now addressed two clear offensive needs in tackle and receiver.
Browns Clips
Cleveland needed an offensive tackle, and now the club has brought one in.
The Browns have selected Spencer Fano out of Utah with the No. 9 overall pick in the first round of this year’s draft.
Fano started on both sides at Utah, with 11 games at left tackle and one game at right tackle as a freshman in 2023. He then started at right tackle in 2024 and 2025, earning Big 12 offensive lineman of the year and the Outland Trophy for his performance.
In all, Fano started 25 games at right tackle and 11 at left tackle.
The Browns acquired the No. 9, No. 74, and No. 148 picks from the Chiefs in exchange for No. 6 overall.
Cleveland also has the No. 24 overall pick in the first round.
The Chiefs had been trying to move up in round one. And they did.
Moving from No. 9 to No. 6 in a trade with the Browns, the Chiefs have taken LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane.
The Chiefs also gave up a third-round pick (No. 74) and a fifth-round pick (No. 148) to creep up three spots for Delane.
Kansas City needed a player like Delane. From the trade of Trent McDuffie to free-agent losses, the Chiefs need to retool the defense if they hope to get back to the Super Bowl for what would be the fifth time in Patrick Mahomes’s career.
The Chiefs also have the 29th pick in the draft, thanks to the trade that sent McDuffie to the Rams.
When Browns head coach Todd Monken broke down the division of work for the team’s quarterbacks at their first minicamp practice on Tuesday, he said that things would change every day and that the team set things up “in a way for us to get a look at all of” Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel.
Monken went on to say that Sanders got the most work on Tuesday and that the team made sure to get him and Watson work with the first team. There was no mention of Gabriel getting that work and the common view of things in Cleveland has focused on the other two quarterbacks as the ones with real chances to wind up as the starter.
Gabriel was a third-round pick last year and he took over for Joe Flacco as the Browns’ starter in Week Five. His run lasted six weeks before a concussion opened the door to Sanders and Gabriel only played two more snaps all season. That doesn’t do anything to hurt the impression that Gabriel is on the outside looking in at this year’s competition and he was asked how he deals with being in his current position.
“You know, I think I’m just running my own race and focused on what I can control, and that’s mastering my reps and doing it a high level,” Gabriel said, via Cleveland.com.
The Browns haven’t ruled out adding another quarterback in the draft this week and a move in that direction could lead to Gabriel running the rest of his race in another setting.
Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders made his NFL regular-season debut with no first-team reps, replacing Dillon Gabriel in Week 11 of his rookie season. Drafted after Gabriel, Sanders spent much of last season fourth on the depth chart behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Gabriel.
In Tuesday’s minicamp, Sanders had more first-team reps than Deshaun Watson and Gabriel, with a real chance to start in 2026.
“That’s not up to me [who starts],” Sanders said, via Zac Jackson of TheAthletic.com. “I go out there every day and focus on what I can control. If I focus on something I can’t control, then I’ll be living the wrong way.”
Sanders, who earned Pro Bowl honors despite only seven starts and more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (seven), has spent the offseason at the team facility. He credits new coach Todd Monken for "[speaking] life into me.”
“There’s a lot of new energy,” Sanders said. “I’m loving what we’re doing. I’m open to learning every day. I’m just coming here with a renewed mindset and just approaching life with a renewed mindset.”
Watson has played only 19 games the past five seasons, including none in 2025 after a twice-repaired Achilles. Still, his 72 career starts give him experience Sanders doesn’t have.
“Deshaun has accomplished a lot in his career, obviously, so when I have questions about certain things, I ask him,” Sanders said. “And I just like hearing his perspective on problems that I could have or the way I think about things — just hearing the way he thinks of things and hearing the way Dillon thinks of things, hearing the way Coach Monken thinks of things.”
Myles Garrett attended the Cleveland Cavaliers game against the Toronto Raptors on Friday. He is not attending the Browns’ voluntary minicamp.
Todd Monken said he has not spoken to his star edge rusher since becoming the Browns’ head coach on Jan. 30. The two have exchanged text messages.
“It hasn’t been a lot. It’s fine. This is voluntary,” Monken said, via video from 92.3 The Fan. “We’re making a big deal out of this. We really are. It’s voluntary. We have other guys besides Myles that aren’t here. I wish they were here. They’ll be ready. We expect them to be ready, and we’ll be fired up when they’re here.
“And really all the players have informed us. They’ve been unbelievable with their communication. So, has Myles. They’ve communicated. Doesn’t mean I like the communication, but it’s voluntary. I wish they were all here. I’ve said that plenty of times. But every one of them is a Brown, and we’re excited that they are.”
Denzel Ward and Jerry Jeudy also were absent on Tuesday.
Garrett has a $1 million workout bonus for 2026, forcing him to participate in 84.375 percent of the offseason sessions and all minicamps and OTA days. Since Tuesday began a minicamp, Garrett presumably has lost $1 million of his 2026 base compensation.
Monken said he can’t speak to whether defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg has communicated with Garrett.
Garrett requested a trade a year ago before signing a four-year, $160 million deal with the Browns in March 2025. After the Browns went 5-12 last season, the Defensive Player of the Year again expressed displeasure with the organization’s losing ways.
The Browns and Garrett agreed to modified language in the All-Pro’s contract this offseason that makes it easier for the team to trade Garrett. However, General Manager Andrew Berry insisted last month that the team wants to make Garrett “a career Brown.”
The Browns did their first on-field work of the spring on Tuesday and the division of quarterback work was of particular interest during their minicamp practice.
Shedeur Sanders got the first reps in drills and that decision was the subject of an early question to head coach Todd Monken during a post-practice press conference. Monken said he was expecting to be asked about that and said the coaches were “just rotating” who got the first chance in each set.
Monken said that the team’s plan was for Sanders to get more reps on Tuesday and that the division of work between Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel will change over the next two days of the minicamp.
“It was set up in a way for us to get a look at all of them,” Monken said. “The plan was that Shedeur would have a few more reps, but let Shedeur and Deshaun each get reps with the ones.”
Monken said he thought all of the quarterbacks “were in command” and that the last few weeks of classroom work showed in their ability to function within the offense. Monken called that the start of the process and the way that process plays out will continue to be of significant interest in Cleveland.
It’s just a matter of time before the NFL draft produces its own Thornton Melon.
The implosion of the various antitrust violations masquerading as NCAA rules has made it easier than ever for players with remaining eligibility to return to college. Last year, the NCAA gave James Nnaji four years of eligibility even though he’d been selected in the first round of the NBA draft.
At some point, a drafted NFL player will make the business decision to go back to school.
Unless and until the fat cats get the federal government to throw them an undeserved lifeline, college players will enjoy maximum earning potential and mobility. The current climate creates an opportunity for a drafted player with options at the college level to choose to return to a level of football that is just as professional as the NFL.
Last year, as Shedeur Sanders plummeted through Day 2 of the draft, we explained that — at some point — it made sense for him to tap out of the process and return to Colorado (or another program). It became one of the most-read articles in the 24-year history of the platform.
There was also a question as to whether Quinn Ewers would do the same thing, once he fell to round seven.
In the end, neither tried. But that was before it became even more clear that a viable path exists.
This year, the player to watch is quarterback Ty Simpson. He recently said he could have made $6.5 million for another year of college football. That’s roughly equal to the average annual pay for the sixth overall pick in the draft.
Simpson is regarded as a possible first-round pick. If he isn’t taken in round one, he has 18 hours to consider his situation. And while most college programs have already lined up their players for 2026, someone will surely want him if he decides to go back. And while $6.5 million would be hard to get back on the table, Simpson could get a lot more than he’d receive as a second-round pick. (Last year, the contract signed by the first player taken in round two averaged $2.1 million per year.)
The key for Simpson would be to make a clear and loud declaration that he’s exiting the draft process. If he’s drafted and returns to school, that team will continue to hold his rights in the spot where he was picked, once he comes to the NFL. If he’s going to tap out, he needs to do so in a way that prompts no one to draft him.
The problem is that, the longer he lingers, the more attractive it will become financially to squat on his rights and hold them for 2027.
Regardless, a Triple Lindy into the college football pool remains possible. It was for Sanders and Ewers. It is for Simpson. And it will continue to be one for any player who slides farther in the draft than he expected.
Veteran defensive end Josh Paschal isn’t on the Browns’ roster, but he is taking part in their minicamp this week.
Paschal is on a list of 11 players trying out for the team that Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal shared on Tuesday. Paschal was a 2022 second-round pick of the Lions and Detroit released him last month.
Paschal missed all of last season after having back surgery, but appeared in 36 games over his first three seasons. He had 62 tackles and five sacks during his time with the Lions.
Wide receiver Keith Kirkwood, running back Sincere McCormick, safety Patrick McMorris, cornerback Keenan Garber, safety JT Woods, defensive tackle Fatoma Mulbah, defensive end Markees Watts, tackle Tyler McLellan, center Joe Michalski, and defensive tackle Jacob Sykes are the other tryout players in Cleveland.
The 2025 draft will be remembered for a few significant things. One will be the prolonged slide of quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Another will be the news of the prank call made to Sanders during the second night of the draft.
The league investigated. The NFL learned that the son of Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich made the call. The Falcons explained that Jax Ulbrich “unintentionally came across the draft contact phone number” for Sanders on an “open iPad” while Jax Ulbrich was visiting his parents’ home.
The NFL fined the team $250,000 and Ulbrich $100,000. The league also pushed the idea that Sanders’s number was sent to a limited number of people per team in a confidential email, and that (basically) the Falcons shared the number with Ulbrich at their own risk.
That was not accurate. The number was contained in an email that went to roughly 2,000 people, via the same distribution list used for the daily transaction report. It was sent directly by the league to Ulbrich and many others in an email that was not marked “confidential.”
Sanders isn’t the only player who received a prank call last year. Defensive end Abdul Carter got a prank call that he’d be drafted by the Jaguars, who had traded up to No. 2, before Carter was picked by the Giants at No. 3. Running back Ashton Jeanty got a call that he’d been traded to the Cowboys, after he was picked by the Raiders.
The solution to the problem was clear: Severely limit access to the prospects’ numbers.
This year, that’s what the league will be doing.
“The relevant contact information will be provided by the league to a single point of contact at the club in football operations,” an NFL spokesperson told PFT via email. “This individual will be responsible for safeguarding the numbers.”
We’ll see whether it works. Obviously, others who have the player’s number could use the knowledge to prank him. The chances, however, of the prank call tracing to 345 Park Avenue and/or one of the teams will be minimized.
If the calls still happen, the NFL will have only one option. Make the phone calls after the picks have been announced to the world.
