The Browns have four big holes still that needed to be filled by the trade deadline and they’re the most obvious ones ever.
The Cleveland Browns are a good football team. A top-five team in the AFC and all but a lock to make the playoffs. Sure, the team is in a weird place where they could finish anywhere from 9-7 to 14-2 and fans would just nod their heads at whatever the record is and go, “yeah, that makes sense.” To get to the playoffs the team is in fair shape. They may need to sign a guy or two but they’re largely set for a run to make the playoffs.
To win in the playoffs, the team is going to have to make some moves to improve some key positions. The team isn’t good enough as is to really warrant getting past the first round, especially since the Browns would face off with the Tennessee Titans if the season ended today. That’s a tall order if you’re Pittsburgh or Baltimore, let alone if you’re Cleveland. The Titans are built just right to give the Browns nightmarish fever dreams. They can run up the gut and throw on anyone.
This isn’t to say that the Browns should mortgage their future to win now, but the Detroit Lions acquired Everson Griffen for a conditional draft pick. ESPN claims the pick is a sixth-rounder that could turn into a fifth-rounder. The Browns could easily land a major name for a third-round pick or less.
These are the positions of need the Browns need to address before the deadline.
Wide Receiver
This one has been on the radar even before the season-ending injury to Odell Beckham Jr. Beckham’s legacy will forever be set as a guy who didn’t get teams to the playoff and was perpetually dealing with injuries. It’s hard to see how Beckham returns to form after yet another leg injury. The Browns need to move on from him regardless because the odds of him being as good as he was this year, let alone him finally returning to his 2016 form isn’t likely.
Beyond replacing Beckham, which Rashard Higgins did pretty well, injuries have been the soup du jour for this season and there isn’t anyone really behind Higgins besides Donovan Peoples-Jones. If Higgins or Peoples-Jones gets hurt then what? That doesn’t even factor Jarvis Landry into the conversation, who’s showing signs that his hip isn’t healing as it should have, or at the very least is showing signs that the hip injury is still affecting him.
Either way, this team is quickly running out of able wideouts.
As far as the type of player the team should consider, a full-time replacement for Beckham is the right move. Even when he was healthy, Beckham had more meltdowns and if Baker Mayfield’s return to form is any indication, the need to force the ball to Beckham continued to be a factor. We’ll see if that theory holds water throughout the rest of the season, however.
Defensive End
Olivier Vernon was a bad signing. He has done next to nothing since returning from injury and has proven time and time again that “pressures” don’t amount to anything as far as tangible stats go. The Browns defense continues to get beat like a dirty rug whenever he’s on the field, and his impact in the passing game has been as minimal as Sheldon Richardson over the last four weeks. At least the Browns have someone good on the line. The good news is that someone like Vernon could be used in a trade to acquire an upgrade.
Vernon‘s deal is up after this year and unless he takes a veteran’s minimum to return as a backup, there’s no reason he’ll be a Browns player next year. He carries a dead cap number of $11 million for this year, which isn’t too bad. So if a team is looking to dump a big contract he could be used in the trade as any penalties he may incur on the team will be off the roster at the start of next year’s offseason. The problem with trading him is that it’ll be the last move the Browns can make as far as big-money deals. If the Browns were to swap Vernon and some draft picks for someone like J.J. Watt, Watt’s remaining salary and the penalties will put the Browns just about at the cap limit.
The good news is that heading into 2021, Watt is only going to count for $4 million more against the team’s salary than Vernon did. Plus you get an upgrade. Even if the team doesn’t swing for a Watt, they have to take as a wing for someone. Both of the players the Browns were rumored to be attached to, Everson Griffen and Yannick Ngakoue have already been on the move twice since the summer. Teams are stocking up on quality ends. The Browns need to follow suit.
Linebacker
Yikes. The Browns linebackers have been atrocious. Honestly, with how bad they’ve been playing against the pass and rush, as well as the problems with the corners, it’s hard to really blame the safeties all that match. The linebackers can’t cover anyone over the middle, or in the flats. Don’t ask them to tackle anyone either, as that’s going to be a problem for all three of them.
Sione Takitaki was given a shot because he was a young player and he hasn’t panned out. B.J. Goodson’s failure to improve the defense was obvious. He’s a career backup. What were fans really expecting? Mack Wilson hurts, as he was supposed to be an anchor but instead he’s just shown to have largely regressed without Joe Schobert playing next to him.
Rookie Jacob Phillip has made next to zero plays and has yet to prove he was a better pick than some of the other rookies still on the board at the time. The Browns lone SuperBowl MVP Malcolm Smith? He plays 60% of the defensive snaps these days and the Browns still can’t get off the field.
The Browns need to make a move or two or four when it comes to the linebacking corp. This is a team that could make some real noise this year but they won’t be able to if they keep playing the cast-offs and never-wheres that Andrew Berry keeps thinking makes for great linebackers.
Cornerback
It’s become pretty obvious that the safties, Ronnie Harrison, Andrew Sendejo, and even Karl Joseph are getting beat up too much. Of course, they are, they’re covering up for blown coverages and poor play from most of the cornerbacks. The only good corner is Denzel Ward and he spent the first six weeks playing with one groin. Don’t ask how that’s even possible. Greedy Williams’ career may be over with him dealing with nerve issues, and don’t even get started on the likes of Terrence Mitchell and Kevin Johnson.
Never has a fan base missed a mediocre corner like Leigh Bodden before the 2020 Browns fans.
The team has to go get a cornerback. Even if it’s not a world-beater, just someone who can play next to Ward because even if Williams is able to return, what will he look like? He hasn’t been able to practice and he really hasn’t done much of anything activity-wise so who knows how long he’d need to be able to play up to a quality standard.
That’s assuming he even can, as he didn’t prove to anyone that he was a good corner last year as a rookie. Maybe if the corners aren’t getting slapped around so much, the safeties will be able to stop worrying about covering up their blown assignments.