The Cleveland Browns hope to see significant improvement in their pass protection after back-to-back regressions in 2023 and 2024. The offensive line tied for the seventh-most pressures and the twelfth-most sacks in 2023 and gave up the most pressures and the second-most sacks in 2024. The good news for the Browns is that four starters enter the offseason healthy.
Unfortunately for their former first-round pick, he is still dealing with an injury.
Cleveland Browns’ former first-rounder not quite 100%
Cleveland Browns, Jedrick Wills Jr
Browns left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.,on Monday, August 2, 2021 in Berea, Ohio, at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. [Phil Masturzo/ Beacon Journal]
Browns 8 3 16
Jedrick Wills Jr. has had a rough last two seasons in the NFL, missing 21 regular-season games with a knee injury. He suffered a season-ending high-grade MCL sprain, a low-grade PCL sprain, and a bone bruise in his right knee in Week 9 of the 2023 season.
Wills missed the first two games of the 2024 season to recover from his knee injury. He made his season debut in Week 3 but exited that game due to an issue with his knee, causing him to miss Week 4. He returned in Week 5 and started the next three games, playing every snap despite hyperextending his knee in Week 7. He then missed Week 8 and was benched in Week 9, only playing two snaps as the swing tackle in his final game.
Also Read: Cleveland Browns: Officially Benched Former 1st-Round Pick
Unfortunately, Wills’s knee flared up during practice before Week 11, causing him to miss the next three games. As a result, the Browns placed him on injured reserve in Week 14.
Also Read: Cleveland Browns: Placed Former 1st Round Pick on Injured Reserve, Signaling the Likely End of His Tenure in Cleveland
First-round pick expected to sit out most of 2025
Cleveland Browns, Jedrick Wills Jr.
Browns offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. walks off the field, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in Cleveland.
Jedrick Wills Jr. is currently a free agent, and although many teams have expressed interest in him, they will have to wait. According to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, the former first-round pick will spend the offseason ensuring he reaches 100% health. As Schultz points out, Wills will likely sit out for most, if not all, of the 2025 season until he’s fully recovered from the knee injury.
Sources: Free agent OT Jedrick Wills, who dealt with a lingering knee injury last season, is planning to sit out most — or possibly all — of the upcoming season to fully recover and get back to 100%.
Wills, the former #Browns’ top 10 pick, has drawn interest from multiple teams… pic.twitter.com/WOajGkKheQ
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) June 2, 2025
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