Cleveland sent the No. 74 pick to New York on April 24, 2026…
Cleveland sent the No. 74 pick to New York on April 24, 2026 for Giants selections No. 105 and No. 145 plus a 2027 fourth-round choice. Cleveland then packaged Nos. 105 and 145 with its own No. 206 pick to move up to No. 86 for offensive tackle Austin Barber. The future fourth-rounder remains an additional Browns asset, so the trade cannot yet be judged solely by the players selected in 2026.
Cleveland Browns Received
- pick 2026 fourth round pick (#105, later packaged in trade to Chargers)
- pick 2026 fifth round pick (#145, later packaged in trade to Chargers)
- pick 2027 fourth round pick (from New York Giants)
New York Giants Received
- pick 2026 third round pick (#74- Malachi Fields )
Trade Analysis
The original exchange is fully documented by both the Giants and the NFL draft-trade ledger. On April 24, 2026, New York sent picks No. 105 and No. 145 plus its 2027 fourth-round selection to Cleveland for pick No. 74, which the Browns had previously acquired from Kansas City. The Giants immediately used No. 74 on Notre Dame wide receiver Malachi Fields. This is a clean three-assets-for-one-pick transaction; the legacy row is structurally close, but its asset wording needs to distinguish what Cleveland actually received from how those picks were subsequently used.
The two 2026 picks did not stay with Cleveland through the draft. NFL's official trade tracker records the Browns sending No. 105 and No. 145, along with their own No. 206 selection, to the Chargers for No. 86. Los Angeles then used No. 105 on wide receiver Brenen Thompson and No. 145 on defensive tackle Nick Barrett, while Cleveland used No. 86 on offensive tackle Austin Barber. Because No. 206 was an additional Browns asset in that later transaction, TradeVerdicts should not imply that the Giants trade by itself purchased Barber. The correct hindsight treatment is that picks 105 and 145 became part of the package that enabled the move to No. 86.
Cleveland also retained a separate 2027 fourth-round pick from New York. The Browns' own 2027 draft-pick inventory lists that Giants selection among the club's future assets. That pick has not yet been exercised, so a meaningful portion of Cleveland's return is still unresolved. Any final winner declaration that ignores the future fourth would overstate what can currently be known.
New York's return is easier to identify but still too early to evaluate conclusively. The Giants selected Fields at No. 74, and the club's current player page lists him with four receptions for 55 yards through the first two games of the 2026 season, including one start. Those are real early contributions, but they represent only the opening weeks of a rookie season. They are not enough evidence to conclude that New York has already created more value than the Browns' combination of draft flexibility, Barber trade-up participation and an unused 2027 fourth-rounder.
The appropriate current verdict is therefore Even Trade with B grades on both sides. New York obtained a specific receiver it valued enough to trade back into the third round, while Cleveland converted two acquired day-three selections into leverage for another move and still holds an extra 2027 fourth. The transaction is fully traceable, but its football outcome remains genuinely unsettled as of September 2026. The evaluation should be revisited after Fields and Barber have larger NFL samples and the 2027 pick has been used or moved.