The Cleveland Browns need a Hail Mary trade for these Carolina Panthers players
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Browns need to turn around their season and cashing in on a Carolina Panthers fire sale may do just that.
The Carolina Panthers are in a state of flux. They just fired Matt Rhule and have given the keys over to Steve Wilks. The team may be thinking of a long-term teardown and rebuild, so they are taking calls on running back Christian McCaffery. If the team trades McCaffery, they may be willing to trade others as well.
It’ll more likely be this offseason, as trades during the season aren’t that regular. Not like the NBA or MLB, so it’s unlikely that the team trades all of their big pieces. Unlikely, but possible.
The Panthers may not trade anyone, they’re just listening to offers to see what is out there. The thing is, the three most desired names they have are being floated around as trade bait. They’re also guys the Browns could and should get in on if they become available.
Those names are McCaffery, defensive end Brian Burns, and wide receiver D.J. Moore. Frankly, the Browns could and should consider all three of them as a group. As a trio, they would only cost the Browns less than $5 million this season. The Panthers would eat a whole lot of money in cap penalties, sure, but the cap is negotiable and I’m sure a deal could be struck that got the Panthers out of some owed money.
It would benefit the Browns greatly to get in on any potential firesale, especially considering these are either positions of need this year or next that need to be addressed.