Browns trade for Matt Ryan wouldn’t have needed moral compass
As Matt Ryan was traded to the Colts for a simple third-round pick, I couldn’t help but think: “That’s the move the Brown should’ve made.”
This isn’t to compare Ryan, at this point in his career to Deshaun Watson, who is entering his prime. Rather, it goes back to what and who the Browns invested the future of their franchise in.
More details on the Watson trade have come out. The Browns will pay a first- and third-rounder this year, and in 2024. They’ll cough up a first- and a fourth-rounder in 2023. Then, there’s the money, almost a quarter of a billion dollars for a player, that we can’t even guarantee will be on the field for Week 1.
Invest that in Russell Wilson, great, no one blinks an eye, but for a player with Watson’s background? Be careful what you wish for.
Ryan detractors will call him old. Fine. He’ll be 37 at the start of the season. Many of us just watched Matthew Stafford win the Super Bowl, though. He’s 34. His career couldn’t have been trending lower in Detroit. A change of scenery altered his trajectory.
Browns would’ve been perfect fit for Matt Ryan
Why couldn’t it have happened for Ryan? He got to the Super Bowl using the Kyle Shanahan zone blocking scheme employed by Kevin Stefanski and the Browns. And like Stafford, he can still sling it, but was hurt by a team with a dearth of weapons.
Plug him into this Browns offense and I think everything would’ve been just fine. No one wanted to coronate Ryan as the franchise quarterback for the next decade, but for two or three years? He would’ve been an upgrade over Baker Mayfield–and the “adult” the Browns were rumored to be looking for.
And while the AFC playoffs will be a gauntlet of great quarterbacks, who knows? Get there and see what happens. We’re not that far removed from seeing Watson blow a 20+ lead in the playoffs to Patrick Mahomes, just as Ryan’s team lost the 2017 Super Bowl stunner to the Patriots.
The best thing out of this, of course, would’ve Browns fans celebrating, not checking their moral compasses or watching people protest in Kevin Stefanski’s yard.
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Sports is supposed to a place to go to rid ourselves of a distractions. The Watson trade has changed that, as you can’t talk about your football team without talking about those 22 pending civil lawsuits.