Cleveland Browns trade quarterback Cody Kessler to Jacksonville

The Cleveland Browns continue to reshape the quarterback room as they have now traded Cody Kessler to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a conditional draft pick.

Cleveland Browns Makeover Edition continued on Wednesday with the news that the team has traded quarterback Cody Kessler to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In return for the third-year veteran, the Browns will receive a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The team released news of the transaction on its website.

General manager John Dorsey deserves credit for getting something, even if it just a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft, for a player that the Browns had no intention of keeping on the roster.

On the Jacksonville side of things, general manager Dave Caldwell seems pretty excited about adding a player with Kessler’s limited abilities to the roster, according to the team’s website:

"“We are excited about the opportunity to add Cody as depth to our quarterback position. Despite being just 24 years old, Cody has already seen NFL game action. From our research and through getting to know Cody during the draft process, we know he is a smart, tough and competitive young man and we expect him to be a great addition to our quarterback and offensive meeting rooms.”"

Kessler was on borrowed time in Cleveland once Dorsey took over in the front office, and the signing earlier this week of veteran quarterback Drew Stanton drove the point home even further.

Kessler was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft and opened the season as the team’s third quarterback.

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But in a series of events that surprised absolutely no one who was paying attention, starting quarterback Robert Griffin III did not make it out of Week 1 without suffering an injury, and backup quarterback Josh McCown went down the following week.

Kessler found himself taking the field as the starting quarterback against the Miami Dolphins in Week 3. Like many other Browns quarterbacks before him, Kessler did well enough in his first start – passing for 244 yards in an overtime loss to the Dolphins – to make some people believe that he could be the answer if he was only “given a chance.”

Those chances came repeatedly in 2016 as Kessler start eight games his rookie season and lose each of them. He was benched in a Week 10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens for his inability to throw the ball deep. However, he finished his rookie year with just enough of a tease to make fans believe he could step up his game in 2017.

That never happened, of course, after the Browns selected quarterback DeShone Kizer in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft and head coach Hue Jackson inexplicably turned the team over to Kizer for the season.

Kessler made just three appearances during the season, attempting just 23 passes. He now joins Kizer, who was traded to the Green Bay Packers earlier this month, on the train out of town.

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Kessler also came across as the type of player who would make a perfectly suitable backup quarterback. He might not win you the game, but he won’t play so poorly that you are out of the contest by halftime.

Maybe going to the Jaguars where there will be no pressure to play over incumbent Blake Bortles is just the move that Kessler needs.

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