The Cleveland Browns need a Hail Mary trade for these Carolina Panthers players

What would a trade package look like?

Let’s just get the financial elephant out of the way. The Browns and Panthers would have to game the system and do a lot of negotiation to get this deal done with as few cap penalties as possible. The Browns would have to give back some of the cap-savings and rework contracts on both sides of the trade package.

So what would a deal need to include to get this done? Well, let’s consider that despite Deshaun Watson having a five-year contract, the Browns only really have two or three years before guys age out or get too expensive to win a Super Bowl. So let’s just say that the team needs to stop worrying about the future because they don’t have one. This is it, these next two or three seasons are it. Then it’s going to be an ugly and long rebuild.

So go for it. Push all the chips in and give it your best shot. So to get Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, and Brian Burns, what do you have to give up? Well, Devonte Adams went for 2022 first and second.

Moore is worth at least a second, if not two. McCaffery is worth a third or second on his own and Brian Burns is worth a second and a third. So we’re looking at six draft picks. This may seem like a lot, but the idea is that if the trade does happen, Kareem Hunt will be traded in the second batch of trades, as would maybe a handful of other guys. So you’d get some compensation back in other trades.

To help alleviate the salary cap damage the Panthers would have to handle and to help lessen the draft picks given up, some key players will need to be in this trade. So what are we looking at?

Browns get:

RB/WR Christian McCaffery, WR DJ Moore, DE/OLB Brian Burns

Panthers get:

Five Draft Picks (2025 First Round, 2023 Second Round, 2024 Second Round, 2025 Fourth Round, 2026 Fifth Round), WR Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR David Bell, WR Anthony Schwartz, RB Jerome Ford.

Getting McCafferly and Moore will give Deshaun Watson some more targets to throw to that are established, while Burns can help the Browns’ defense find a new identity and maybe even a new base scheme in 2023.

The Browns have $35 million currently in cap space, so guys are going to have to restructure their deals to fit under the cap in 2023 and beyond, but it’s possible. Especially with names like Deion Jones being a candidate to restructure his contract, Jadevoen Clowney not likely to return, and Jack Conklin either going to sign for less money in 2023 or not return. So there is money to use to pay these guys without going over the cap.

It’s big, it’s bold, and it’s just what this team needs.