As the Cleveland Browns embark on a new league year via free agency and the draft, the organizations should consider these three crazy trades.
The Cleveland Browns are expected to add a couple of starters in the NFL Draft, while also altering their roster through free agency.
The third door, though, is the most intriguing. That’s right, we’re talking trades, and not just boiler plate deals, rather crazy trades the Browns should make in 2020.
Recent memory has the Browns making headlines when it comes to dealing, as the team pulled off the unheard-of-at-the-time Brock Osweiler deal. The team stole the headlines a season ago, pulling off the mega deal for Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Could the Browns be active again? It’s hard to say no, considering the holes on the roster. Realistically, the Browns have holes two holes to fill on the offensive line, while they’re also in the market for a linebacker, safety, depth at corner and a tight end.
Free agency and the draft only offer so many opportunities to improve, so one would have to expect Paul DePodesta and Andrew Berry will be talking to other teams.
As the NFL weighs whether or not to push back the start of the league year because of Covid-19, here’s three crazy trades to ponder the Browns making this offseason.
1. Browns acquire Nick Foles, 2nd & 3rd rounder from Jags
The Browns need a backup quarterback, and there may be one available in Jacksonville. After signing a lucrative deal to lead the Jaguars, injuries plagued Nick Foles and rookie Gardner Minshew took Jacksonville by storm.
There’s reports coming out of Florida that the Jags will look to move Foles, so could the Browns do something similar to what their analytically driven front office did when acquiring Brock Osweiller?
Analytic mavens praised the Browns for making an “NBA trade,” in that they took on money to add an asset in the form of a second-round draft pick (which became Nick Chubb).
With Paul DePodesta dictating strategy, it’s possible lightning could strike twice. Foles contract carries a $22 million cap hit, so the Jaguars would really have to sweeten the pot in a deal. Wonder if Cleveland could get a second- and third-round pick for Foles.
In addition to the draft picks, Foles would also correct the hole on the depth chart. Cleveland is in the market for a backup, and Foles would be a viable candidate to push Baker Mayfield.
As for the Browns, Foles contract comes with a potential out after 2020. According to Sportrac, his contract would carry $12 million in dead cap
Jacksonville’s front office is also driven by analytics, and giving up draft picks isn’t in the analytics playbook. With that said, creating cap space is a part of the analytics plan, so it depends on what the higher ups in Jacksonville value more.
With $65 million in cap space, the Browns have the room to fit Foles into the scary cap.
2. OBJ to the Raiders for the 19th pick
With two first-round picks, the Raiders are capable of doing the unthinkable, offering the 19th pick in the 2020 draft for OBJ.
If Tom Brady decides Las Vegas is where he wants to hang his hat, it becomes even more imperative for Oakland to land a stud receiver to pair Brady with.
Sure, it’s probably wishful thinking to even entertain the idea that Beckham could still garner a first-round pick, but perhaps the Raiders, out of desperation, make this deal.
Beckham is still in his prime and still recorded 1,000 receiving yards. Browns’ fans were disappointed with his performance, but it’s being revealed the superstar wideout was barely practicing during the week. It was revealed during the tumultuous 2020 season that OBJ had a sports hernia.
Financially, there isn’t much risk for the Raiders, as Beckham’s contract carries no dead money against the cap after the 2020 campaign.
Stop getting upset, I know OBJ is supposed to be in the Browns’ fashion show, when the organization unveils their new uniforms.
With that said, if the team is now dictating strategy based off fashion shows, keep on coming back to this site, because the Factory of Sadness will keep churning out losses for another 20 years #facepalm.
3. Browns find trade up partner in Panthers
The last trade comes with a tip of the hat to the Pro Football Network, where writer Neal Driscoll envisions the Browns trading up in the NFL Draft to acquire Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs.
Driscoll predicted the Browns would send picks Nos. 10 and 74 to the Panthers to move three spots to secure Wirfs. This qualifies as a crazy trade because it would seem to go against analytics, as the Browns would giving up something to move up.
You’d take this trade in second. I pull the trigger before I could blink. The last offensive lineman the Browns selected out of the Big Ten has a date with the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Wirfs played for the highly regarded Kirk Ferentz and looks like the type of player the Browns could take and forget about for the next years.
What might Paul DePodesta and Andrew Berry think of this type of deal? With so many offensive tackles slated to go in the first round, it’s hard to see the data-driven gurus staying fixated on one prospect. It’d be a lot less surprising to see the Browns trade down to get their tackle later in the first-round.
But to heck with analytics! This is the “Crazy trades” column, after all, and Wirfs looks like the best bet to block Baker’s blindside.