The Cleveland Browns were right to balk at trading for Trent Williams
By Chad Porto
The Washington Redskins cost themselves a lot by overvaluing the market on Trent Williams and the Cleveland Browns were wise to decline the deal.
While a potential name to replace Joe Thomas, many on this site never saw Trent Williams as the best option. The pick of Jedrick Wills was a much better one-for-one move for the team, yet Williams offered a bit of a unique scenario; which would have let the team go defense earlier in the draft or acquire two top linemen by still picking one at No. 10 in the 2020 NFL Draft. That is assuming the Browns got to keep their draft pick in 2020.
Yet according to new the Redskins new head coach Ron Rivera, the Redskins did in fact have a deal in place for Williams. A deal that included a first-round draft pick. Talking to Kevin Sheehan, Rivera said;
"There was an opporutnity, from what I was told, that last year just before the trade deadline he was worth a 1st round pick. But, for whatever reason, the deal was never done."
While it’s unknown to anyone at this point if the Browns were the team offering the pick, it seems more than reasonable to think they would be. The team under then-GM John Dorsey was about stripping the future for the present. He made moves giving up draft picks for players and sought veterans for a win-now approach that ultimately failed.
The move would’ve been devastating for the Browns, especially now that we know Williams could’ve been had for a fifth and a third-round pick. The fact the Redskins also wanted Denzel Ward (or a player of his skillset) in return also shows you just how bad Redskins’ Bruce Allen is. As the de facto head of the franchise for the last ten years, only answering to owner Daniel Snyder, Allen has tanked the organization with misstep after misstep.
Browns’ fans should be happy that the team, despite its issues, never settles on a bad choice for a decade. Could you imagine ten years with John Dorsey? Fans should also be happy that a deal never happened either. The Browns got rookie upstart Jedrick Wills and retained a Pro Bowl talent at corner.
Look at that, the Browns actually made a good call! Who’s throwing the parade?