With Andrew Berry at the helm, Cleveland Browns fans know this team is always going to be active on the trade market. And with so much uncertainty still swirling around this season after a 4-2 start, the trade deadline could be huge for the Browns in 2023.
Of course, for as important as identifying the right trade targets is, there's also the other side of trades. You need to give something up.
Here are the Browns most likely to be on their way out of Cleveland at the deadline.
1. Donovan Peoples-Jones
Wide receiver is a bit of a position of need for the Browns, but it's also a position with the most likely trade candidate on the team.
Donovan Peoples-Jones may well be on the trade block, and it's not hard to see why.
DPJ’s breakout over the last couple of years left him showing plenty of promise, but we’re now six games into the 2023 season and the fourth-year pro hasn’t even reached 100 yards total, let alone in a single contest. It’s not only production, either. He’s only managed to earn 18 targets despite playing 83% of the available offensive snaps.
The Browns haven’t been the most pass-happy team in the league, but that doesn’t explain the low number. Those 18 targets rank just fifth on the team for the season, and his 8 offensive touches rank ninth.
The promise he showed in recent years will leave some teams interested in giving him a shot, and at this point it's clear that DPJ isn't going to be a serious contributor in the Browns' offense this season. Adding in that this is the final year on his contract makes moving him for whatever we can get a no-brainer.
2. Greg Newsome II
The overall success of the Browns' defense has hidden some serious issues in the secondary. One of the biggest of these issues has been the play of Greg Newsome II.
Pro Football Focus has Newsome ranked 72nd among 115 qualifying corners with an overall grade of 59.6. But you don’t just have to trust their grading to see his struggles.
Newsome has allowed a whopping 124.5 passer rating when targeted in coverage, and he’s also already racked up 5 missed tackles on the season.
Having an elite pass-rush that doesn't allow opposing quarterbacks time to scan the field or wait for deep routes to develop does wonders to make a defensive back's life easier, but even still Newsome hasn't been able to thrive.
This is the worst season of his career by a pretty sizable margin.
But the other side of the coin is that he's 23 years old and a former first-round pick with one more year on his contract. That first-round draft status is all but a guarantee that there will be another defensive coach out there who thinks he can unlock the best that Newsome has to offer.
The key to trading Newsome is that we can't afford to get much more thin in the secondary. So swapping him for another struggling young corner who Jim Schwartz thinks he can get the most out of would be the perfect move.
3. Jedrick Wills
As a 4-2 team hoping to make a playoff push, the Browns are going to be more buyers than sellers at the deadline. They also won't risk breaking up groups with good chemistry when it's not necessary.
Jedrick Wills Jr. won't be traded without a backup plan in place, but with left tackle being an area of need, he could certianly be moved after an addition is made.
The Browns could work to bring in someone like Garrett Boles, and at that point it would make sense to move Wills for whatever we can get. In fact, that might even mean essentially paying another team to take on his contract.
The Browns would take on very little dead money by trading Wills — just a few million. If they wait for the fifth-year option to kick in, however, releasing him becomes almost impossible, facing over $10 million in dead money. Cap space is going to be at a premium in Cleveland next year, and while it's not a sexy move it could make a lot of sense to give up a day-three draft pick just to make Wills' contract someone else's problem.
Like I said above, that would be contingent on landing a new starting left tackle first of course.
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