Cleveland Browns: 5 best trade scenarios ahead of 2020 trade deadline

5. Matt Ryan, QB ATL

OK, the names before this one were more realistic. Now it’s time for some fantasy football.

Trading for Matt Ryan seems like the longest of long shots. Why? Follow the money. If the Falcons traded him, they’d incur about a $50 million dead cap hit for next season. If they trade him after the season, that number would shrink to about $25 million. Still, a ton of money.

Long story shortly: The Falcons are in the salary cap cellar and probably won’t be trading any of their priced players.

For Cleveland, obviously, there’s the Baker Mayfield card laying on the table for the Browns. I don’t think Andrew Berry is going to quit on Mayfield during the 2020 season, so he’s got 10 games left to prove himself.

So why even dream of the trade? The crux of the issue is that the rest of the offense is set up to win. The defense could be there too, if the Browns made a trade similar to what the Steelers did last season for Minkah Fitzpatrick, and what the Ravens recently did for Yannick Ngakoue.

Ryan is not the elite quarterback he was when he won the league’s MVP in 2016, but with this line, this running game and these receivers, the Browns would become more than just contenders for a low playoff seed.

At this point, I don’t see how the Browns can extend Mayfield, a player whose considerably worse when asked to compete passes from the pocket. In the job description of a quarterback, that would seemingly qualify as “kind of a big deal.”

If the Browns do wait and end up giving Mayfield next, year, as well–then what? Will they draft another quarterback? OBJ and Jarvis Landry will be long gone by the time that quarterback is ready to win.

And what about Nick Chubb? When healthy, he’s putting up Jim Brown-esque numbers. They can’t afford to waste his prime.

Say it out loud. Matt Ryan, starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Now, admit it, you have a heck-of-a-lot more confidence in this team than you do right now with Baker.