Getty
Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard.
The Cleveland Browns are prime candidates to take the first wide receiver off the board in next week’s NFL draft, and the team is behaving as such in the days leading up to the event.
Most recently, the franchise met with Alabama Crimson Tide wideout Germi Bernard via one of his top-30 visits. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the news on social media Wednesday, April 15.
#Bama WR Germie Bernard wrapped up his Top 30 visits with trips to the #Falcons today and #Steelers yesterday. The likely second rounder also visited with the #Browns and #Raiders, among others.
“#Bama WR Germie Bernard wrapped up his Top 30 visits with trips to the #Falcons today and #Steelers yesterday,” Rapoport wrote on X. “The likely second-rounder also visited with the #Browns and #Raiders, among others.”
Germie Bernard Could Prove WR2 Target for Browns in NFL Draft
GettyAlabama wide receiver Gerrmie Bernard.
Bernard played one season at Michigan State and another at Washington before spending his final two collegiate seasons in Tuscaloosa.
He put up career highs of 64 receptions, 862 yards and seven touchdowns for the Crimson Tide last season and has tallied 2,203 receiving yards and 13 scores on 155 catches across his collegiate career (53 games).
Bernard stands just over six-feet, one-inch tall and weighs 206 pounds. He ran a 4.48-second 40-yard dash time and posted a 32.5-inch vertical leap at the NFL combine in late February.
Cleveland is unlikely to take Bernard with either of its first-round picks (No. 6 and 24), though he could be a target at No. 39 in Round 2. And the Browns may look to add a pass-catcher early on Day 2 even if they end up selecting one in the opening round, which most draft analysts have projected over the past several weeks and months.
According to a CBS Sports tracker of pre-draft meetings, Cleveland has hosted 15 players in recent days. Of those 15 prospects, eight have been wideouts. Two others are offensive tackles, another two are tight ends, along with one safety, one edge-rusher and quarterback Ty Simpson who played with Bernard at Alabama last season.
Browns Need Wide Receiver Talent for Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and/or Rookie QB in 2027
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Cleveland has Jerry Jeudy in the WR room currently, and not much else. Thus, it wouldn’t be a shock if head coach Todd Monken looked at more than one pass-catcher for quarterback Shedeur Sanders heading into 2026.
Sanders isn’t a lock to start Week 1, though he started seven games down the stretch in 2025. Furthermore, Monken and the Baltimore Ravens were interested in drafting Sanders before he landed in Cleveland, per multiple reports.
Deshaun Watson could also win the battle for QB1, as he heads into the fifth and final year of his deal with the Browns. In either case, Sanders or Watson is going to need significant help beyond Jeudy and 2025 third-round pick/tight end Harold Fannin Jr.
Fannin led the team in all major receiving categories is his rookie campaign and looks like a steal, though the Browns have plenty of incentive to pair him with a high-end receiver or two as the team looks forward. There is a strong chance Cleveland will draft a QB in what is expected to be a strong 2027 class at the position, and filling out the offensive line and skill positions before doing so is the team’s clear priority.
Wide receiver candidates for Cleveland with the No. 6 overall pick include Carnell Tate of Ohio State, Makai Lemon of USC and Jordyn Tyson of Arizona State. The team could also look at Denzel Boston of Washington, KC Concepcion of Texas A&M or Omar Cooper Jr. of Indiana with the No. 24 pick if the Browns lean toward an offensive tackle in the top 10.
All six of those wideouts have met with Cleveland during the pre-draft process.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
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