The 2026 NFL Draft officially begins for the Cleveland Browns and the rest of the teams in the NFL tonight at 8:00 pm ET. For Browns fans, Cleveland could be on the clock somewhere between 8:40 pm ET to 9:00 pm ET, as they hold the No. 6 overall pick. Later in the evening, closer to 11:00 pm ET, they are scheduled to be on the clock to make the No. 24 overall pick. It feels good to be heavily involved in the first round of an NFL Draft again, doesn’t it?

We will have all of your Browns-related coverage on the draft here at Dawgs By Nature throughout the weekend. This thread will act as a “live blog,” with updates about the latest small rumors, picks, or trades involving Cleveland or other NFL teams. You should also use the comments section as your NFL Draft open thread! (Newest updates will be at the top of the live blog below)

7:00 AM: Good morning, Browns fans, and welcome to our annual NFL Draft live blog! Each year, I like to begin the live blog by taking a look at how the host city has set-up for the draft, including the draft stage. Let’s see how the layout looks for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

Pittsburgh has split their draft festivities among two locations: the North Shore area (where the Steelers play) and Point State Park across the river. Fans will have to enter threw security at each location. To get from one part to the other, they’ll have to walk to the Roberto Clemente Bridge, passing by PNC Park. On Friday and Saturday, a ferry will be available to transport fans across the river.

The city is projecting 500,000 to 700,000 fans over the three-day span, potentially making it one of the busiest events in Pittsburgh’s history. The school system has gne to remove learning from Wednesday through Friday to prepare for traffic.

Here is a shot of some giant Super Bowl trophies located in the green room:

See the giant Super Bowl Trophies inside the Green room? Yes, the green room is inside the Great Hall at Acrisure Stadium. pic.twitter.com/2dkB1c7EmJ

Here are a few more scenes and decorations throughout the area:

Scenes from the big stage ‼️ pic.twitter.com/ypPtwT9X5W

The Wyndham Grand will also have a light projection on it during the evening of the NFL Draft, showing teams that are on the clock, as well as prospects who are being selected. Here’s a shot of how it looks in the day and at night:

The Point: by day and by night #nfldraft pic.twitter.com/2luIdkCbsC

Crews have also been getting the city clean and ready for its national audience, painting over graffiti and doing other repairs:

This is awesome: The Pittsburgh government is cleaning up the streets for the NFL draft this week.Crews are painting over graffiti, making electrical repairs to the enhanced lighting system and picking up litter.Allegheny County is doing it right 👏pic.twitter.com/Ku2H5pDSRJ

We’ll try to have more NFL Draft Fan Experience notes during the afternoon on Thursday, when fans actually attend the festivities. That should include me (Chris Pokorny), as I will be trying to make the drive to Pittsburgh to soak in some of the fan experience.