Cleveland Browns: 3 players likely on the trading block

Dec 13, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns tackle Joe Thomas (73) leaves the field after the Cleveland Browns beat the San Francisco 49ers 24-10 at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 13, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns tackle Joe Thomas (73) leaves the field after the Cleveland Browns beat the San Francisco 49ers 24-10 at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 30, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Brian Hartline (83) against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Ravens won 33-27. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 30, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Brian Hartline (83) against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Ravens won 33-27. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Brian Hartline

Brian Hartline is in an interesting position heading into this season. He finished fourth in receiving yards last season with only 523, the second highest for a wide receiver on the team.

Josh Gordon will not be back again this season, and the team replaced Travis Benjamin with their first pick in the draft, Corey Coleman, so nothing really changes from that front. However, in a similar situation to the one the team is in with Joe Thomas, Cleveland may want to ship off Hartline and try to get something in return for him while they can.

Aside from Coleman, the team took four other receivers. All are obviously younger than Hartline, and should two or three of them show they can hang and perform at a professional level, it could eliminate the need for Hartline.

This is not to say Hartline is a slouch by any means. He had two 1,000 yard receiving seasons while with the Dolphins in 2012 and 2013. He stands 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and has managed to remain relatively healthy, missing only eight games in his seven-year career thus far. Averaging two touchdowns a season to this point in his career, he isn’t a major scoring threat, but to a team in need of receiving help, Hartline might still be able to provide a spark to an offense.

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This move would likely only happen closer to the trade deadline once the new receivers have had a chance to show what they have, if it happens at all, but Hartline could still very well just end up being an inevitable casualty of the rebuilding process.