NFL Draft: Andrew Berry makes 3 trades on Day 2, moves out and back into 3rd round

BEREA — Andrew Berry traded back into the second round.He traded out of the third round and then back into it.At one point, he had eight picks lined up for Day 3 on Saturday.When the dust settled Friday night, the Browns general manager had more than lived up to his reputation as a wheeler and dealer through the first two nights of the NFL Draft.NFL Draft: Browns trade up to get Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, who says they feel like family"Obviously a lot of action, a lot of movement throughout the evening tonight, but we're pleased with where we ended up," Berry said."It was a lot of fun. I mean, it was a heck of a ride," coach Todd Monken said. "I was just in there for the ride, so it was pretty cool."Berry started the draft Thursday by trading down from No. 6 to No. 9. After making three picks, Berry got back to trading Friday. He made three deals.He moved up to No. 58 in the second round to draft Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. The Browns got Nos. 58 and 152 from the 49ers, who received Nos. 70 and 107.Berry traded a second third-round pick a little later, shipping No. 74 to the Giants for Nos. 105 and 145 and a fourth-rounder in 2027.He then traded back into the third round at No. 86 to select Florida tackle Austin Barber (6-foot-6¾, 317 pounds). He made 39 starts in college, spending time at both tackle spots.NFL Draft: Spencer Fano finds 'no greater joy' than dominating a defender, grateful he'll practice against Myles Garrett but not face him on SundaysThe Browns sent Nos. 105, 145 and 206 to the Chargers for the chance to take Barber."I actually called those yo-yo trades," he said of going down then back up.He said the first time he named it that was when Sashi Brown traded back into the first round in 2017 to get tight end David Njoku at No. 29."Oftentimes those trades, if you look at the aggregate set of moves, they become pretty efficient because you pick up either a high level or future asset, but you're able to still get a targeted player without giving all those realized gains back. Very rare situations will we do that, but we felt like this was one where it made the most sense."The Browns picked twice in the first round (Utah tackle Spencer Fano and Texas A&M receiver KC Concepcion) and twice in the second round (Washington receiver Denzel Boston and McNeil-Warren).NFL Draft: Receiver KC Concepcion says Browns getting 'a dawg all over the field' and he's 'ready to change the organization'After temporarily having eight picks in Day 3, they are down to five following the deal with the Chargers. They have Nos. 146, 148, 149 and 152 in the fifth round and No. 248 in the seventh.The Giants used No. 74 on Notre Dame receiver Malachi Fields. The Browns had already drafted two receivers and were excited to add the fourth-round pick next season.After the Browns stayed put at No. 39 and got Boston, assistant general manager/vice president of player personnel Glenn Cook complimented their patience. Circumstances changed with McNeil-Warren and Barber."It's usually just based on the action that you get or how the board falls," Berry said. "I'll be honest, we try to stay pretty nimble and flexible just because you never know when the next opportunity is going to come up. And I think that's actually one of the benefits of having volume and quality with your picks because there are more opportunities to maneuver up and down the board."The Browns considered taking McNeil-Warren at No. 39 or even trading up for him. When he was still around nearly 20 picks later, they decided to capitalize by moving up 12 spots."E-Man, he wasn't someone that we anticipated being there as late as he was," Berry said. "So when he got within striking distance, we felt the move was appropriate."Berry has traded down more often than up in his seven drafts. His first move up came in the second round in 2021 for linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and he said the circumstances with McNeil-Warren were similar."Where you have a player that you just didn't expect to be in a certain range of the draft and there's a certain level of, OK, you don't necessarily have a team identified that's going to take that player off the board, but you look at your resources and say, 'Hey, this is a price that I'm willing to pay for this skill set for this guy, relative to what you think you're getting,'" Berry said.The Barber trade was a surprise for multiple reasons. Berry had traded out of the third round, had already traded up once Friday and Barbie didn't address an immediate need.Monken and Berry said he'll stay at tackle. The Browns traded for veteran right tackle Tytus Howard — he turns 30 on May 23 — and gave him a two-year, $45 million extension through 2028, then drafted Fano to play left tackle."We talked about turning over that position group with both youth and talent," Berry said. "And Tytus is great. He can play tackle, he can play guard, but also being realistic that he is a little bit more advanced in his career relative to some of the other players."But you can never have enough of the tackles, you can never have enough of the line of scrimmage players just because they're so hard to find and they're so hard to acquire once you get past this point that we want to roll deep in those position groups when we can."The post NFL Draft: Andrew Berry makes 3 trades on Day 2, moves out and back into 3rd round first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.