The fourth-round solution: How Dawand Jones’ left tackle trial could erase Andrew Berry’s first-round regrets

CLEVELAND, Ohio — In the NFL, one of the most valuable commodities is finding a premium position player on a budget contract. For the Cleveland Browns, third-year tackle Dawand Jones represents exactly that kind of potential windfall — if he can successfully transition to left tackle after playing primarily on the right side.

“It would be an absolute coup for the Browns if Dawand Jones ended up being their left tackle after the Jedrick Wills situation,” Orange and Brown Talk host Dan Labbe explained on a recent podcast with Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot.

The situation Labbe references is the disappointment of former first-round pick Jedrick Wills Jr., who never fully lived up to expectations after being selected 10th overall in 2020. Now, a fourth-round selection from 2023 could potentially solve the Browns’ left tackle riddle while providing enormous financial relief.

“Jed Wills will always be a mistake and it’ll always be a miss for Andrew Berry,” Labbe stated bluntly. “But if he finds some other solution elsewhere and Dawand Jones is your left tackle for the next 10 years, nobody’s going to care about that miss on Jed Wills.”

The financial implications are substantial. As Labbe noted, “This year his cap number is $1.2 million. Next year his cap number is $1.3 million. So if you could get a couple cheap years at left tackle and then of course if he’s successful, they’re going to extend him and pay him a lot of money.”

For a team navigating Deshaun Watson’s massive contract, finding value at premium positions is essential. Cabot emphasized this point: “They’re still bargain hunting wherever they possibly can. We’ve talked about that. This year Deshaun’s cap number is a big number. Again, it’s in the high 30s, I think, and then next year it’s 80 and they’re going to have to spread that out.”

The Jones experiment represents a critical juncture for the Browns’ draft philosophy under Andrew Berry. Cabot highlighted a concerning trend: “They went three years without a first round pick. And then when you go back to their initial first round pick in Jed Wills in this regime in 2020, once again, it didn’t work out. He didn’t make it to his second contract here. And then their next first round pick in Greg Newsome II, he hasn’t made it to his second contract here.”

This track record creates additional pressure on mid-round selections like Jones to outperform their draft position. “So you do then need the Martin Emerson Jr.’s to overachieve and play over their heads. You do need the Dawand Joneses to leap out of the fourth round and play like a first rounder or a second rounder,” Cabot explained.

The left tackle transition won’t be seamless. While Jones has some experience on the left from his Ohio State days, the adjustment remains significant. “He’s not comfortable over there yet,” Cabot cautioned. “He has to develop some muscle memory on the left side. He’s got to get his brain switched around and thinking in a different way.”

Still, early returns have been promising. “The signs were there early on that he had the potential to play like a first round tackle,” Cabot observed. “And I think a lot of teams when he played at right tackle early on would have thought, hey, if I could have gotten that somewhere in the first round, I would have been happy with that.”

For Browns fans, Jones represents more than just a potential left tackle solution — he embodies the organization’s ability to identify and develop talent outside the first round. In a league where draft capital is precious and salary cap space even more so, turning a fourth-round selection into a starting left tackle would be the kind of roster management masterclass that builds championship contenders.

As training camp approaches, few position battles will carry more significance for both the present and future of the franchise than Dawand Jones’ audition at left tackle.

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