Browns: The four ideal trades to improve the team at the trade deadline

Why this Works: It’s a contract for a contract and we have John Elway to thank for making it possible for IR players to be traded. If the Browns trade Beckham before June 1, 2020, they’d only have to pay $250,000 against the cap. The Texans can trade J.J. Watt now without incurring any penalty. Yes, Watt is injury-plagued but so is Beckham. More than that, the Texans aren’t competing this year anyway and would still have Beckham for three more seasons. The Browns, on the other hand, are competing this year. So even though Beckham is on IR, the Texans would have every incentive to go get him in order to pare him with DeShaun Watson for 2021.

What would it cost: As far as draft picks go, there wouldn’t need to be any, in theory. The Texans would have a controllable asset for three years, in an offense that favors passing over rushing. They’d also get rid of a disgruntled player in Watt, who has already said isn’t interested in talking a contract extension with the Texans.

The issues: The Texans may not want to trade Watt, which will be an issue for all of these, but they also may not want a player on the injured reserve, who is again dealing with a career-altering injury. A player can only have so many injuries to a body part before their production becomes severely impacted. That said, with Bill O’Brien gone, the Texans may want to show Watson what’s waiting for him in 2021 after DeAndre Hopkins got traded. For the Browns, they’ve had trade rumors surrounding a Beckham trade since the end of last season. This seems like the way to go.

Trade impact: $1.5 million added against the cap in 2020, $3 million added in 2021.