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Failed Browns Playmaker About to Play Final Game With Team on Saturday

Browns vs. Ravens in Week 18 will be this player's final time suiting up for Cleveland.

By Jason Schandl

Nov 3, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore (8) and Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Elijah Molden (22) go for a pass during the second half at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Nov 3, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore (8) and Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Elijah Molden (22) go for a pass during the second half at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
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Cleveland Browns fans can be forgiven for not wanting to watch Saturday's game against the Baltimore Ravens. Bailey Zappe is starting at quarterback. The outcome of the game only matters for securing Cleveland a better draft pick. They are absurd 19.5-point underdogs to the Baltimore Ravens per FanDuel Sportsbook.

It's likely to be a bloodbath, and even the handful of exciting players on this Cleveland roster are going to be in for a long day.

But one reason to watch is that it could be Browns fans' last chance to see a couple of players suiting up for the team. Some of those will be celebrated (looking at you, Germaine Ifedi), and others are worrying (what's going to happen with Myles Garrett?). One bust of a trade acquisition from 2023 will probably belong to the former camp for most fans.

Elijah Moore Won't Be a Cleveland Brown Next Season

Saturday's Browns vs Ravens game will be the final one on wide receiver Elijah Moore's contract. When the Browns traded a second-round pick to acquire Moore (plus a third-rounder) from the New York Jets, they inherited his rookie contract. That had him locked up in Cleveland for 2023 and 2024 with cap hits of $1.4 and $3.1 million, respectively. The deal leaves him an unrestricted free agent when the league year rolls over to begin 2025 in March.

And nothing about what we've seen from Moore in Cleveland suggests that the team will work out a new deal with him. Middling totals of 640 and 502 receiving yards on 104 and 97 targets have left him as a horrible inefficient weapon in an offense that has been hurting for options. The lack of other viable receivers let him get every bit of opportunity he could hope for, and he never made the most of it.

Moore won't have trouble finding someone to give him a shot this offseason — teams will still be impressed by his second-round draft stock from 2021, and I'm sure plenty of coaches think they can unlock something in him that the Browns couldn't.

So ultimately, this is probably a win for both sides — the Browns can move on from a failed trade, and Moore gets a chance to jump-start his career somewhere new.

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