Cleveland Browns Must Make Most of Draft After Skating by in Textgate Scandal

Given that a week ago the Cleveland Browns were facing reportedly "severe" punishment from the NFL for the illegal text messages sent by general manager Ray Farmer to Browns sidelines during games last season—a scandal known, for better or for worse as "Textgate"—the actual discipline meted down seems relatively light.

Farmer will be suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season, and the team collectively has been fined $250,000. Though there are certainly potential negative implications of the suspension—the first four weeks are generally a time when roster additions and subtractions are most common during the actual NFL season—it could have been much worse. The Browns were not docked any 2015 draft picks as part of the punishment, leaving all 10 still available for use later this month.

While it's a relief that the Browns were not stripped of any of their picks, now comes the real pressure—actually using those picks. A poor selection is, when it comes down to it, much the same as one being taken away in punishment: Either way, it's a waste of a pick.

For the third time in four years, the Browns possess two picks in the first round of the draft. These picks are the most crucial to get right—these are the high-profile players, the seemingly surest things possible. Failing twice in Round 1—potentially for the third time in four years—won't do anything to help either the Browns' win-loss record or the job securities of Farmer, head coach Mike Pettine and the rest of the coaching and front office staff.

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The jury is still out on the success or failure of the team's two picks last year, cornerback Justin Gilbert and quarterback Johnny Manziel. The early returns are not promising—Gilbert was essentially suspended for the final game of the season after having problems all season long, and Manziel, who started two games and then suffered a shoulder injury, was fined to close out the season after missing treatment for said injury. He is currently in a rehab facility.

Gilbert and Manziel could have drastically improved seasons in 2015, which would be a good start to the Browns' latest attempt to build a winning franchise. But it's not hard to forget the disastrous draft of 2012, which saw the third-overall pick, Trent Richardson, traded just a pair of weeks into his sophomore season and Brandon Weeden released in the 2014 offseason. 

Further, only four players from that draft remain on the Browns roster to this day—four players out of 11 selected. Granted, that was two coaches and two general managers ago. But there are only two of the Browns' five 2013 draft picks still on the roster today as well. That means that out of 16 picks in a two-year span, only six could make it to 2015's roster.

Year	Round/Pick	Player
2012	2-37	Mitchell Schwartz
2012	3-87	John Hughes
2012	4-100	Travis Benjamin
2012	6-205	Billy Winn
2013	1-6	Barkevious Mingo
2013	7-217	Armonty Bryant

The way to build a successful NFL franchise is through drafting and developing young players. So it's no wonder that the Browns have continued to struggle. Their lack of continuity on the coaching and front office fronts has led to draft picks being dumped after a year in some cases, giving the Browns a weak base of young talent off of which to build.

A bad draft leads to a poor season or two, which leads to another coach and general manager being fired, which means a new coach and general manager come in and clean house, particularly of the previous administration's (or administrations') draft picks.

Another bad draft can lead to this cycle repeating, and suddenly the Browns have a solid base of veterans, like Joe Thomas, Joe Haden and Phil Taylor, but little homegrown talent to join them. The baby, the bathwater, the bathtub, the bathroom, the whole house has been thrown away too many times. And for that to happen again to the Browns this year would be as devastating as it has always been.

The Browns must find players who can be long-term solutions to problems currently facing the roster and problems that could arise in the future. It doesn't matter how many picks the Browns have if they cannot use them effectively, especially the four they possess in the first three rounds this year.

So while the Browns can release a sigh of relief that none of these picks were taken away in the league's punishment of the team, now they must get down to the tough work of selecting the right players. History has been repeating itself way too often in Cleveland, and the way to stop that cycle is by finally drafting well.