Cleveland Browns: Revisiting moves that have worked at the bye

Swapping DeShone Kizer for Damarious Randall

The Browns weren’t necessarily wrong for drafting DeShone Kizer. He had plenty about his game to like and could have developed into a starting quarterback eventually. The problem was, he wasn’t ready. Kizer hardly played at Notre Dame and needed time to work on his skills before being thrust into a starting role. That’s not what happened though.

Hue Jackson decided to start the rookie and Kizer struggled mightily. He was then shipped off after the season, which made sense to do. The Browns didn’t need a young quarterback to groom, they needed a legitimate starter — which they have now in Baker Mayfield.

Dorsey didn’t just cut Kizer though. Instead, he sent him to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for defensive back Damarious Randall. The move was brilliant as it gave them a former first-round pick in exchange for the former second-round pick. It also gave them a legitimate starting free safety.

In 2017, they didn’t have that and rookie Jabrill Peppers tried to fill the role. He wasn’t successful, but that wasn’t on him. Peppers primarily played linebacker at Michigan and has the skillset to be an in-the-box safety. Adding Randall allowed him to move to strong safety, which fits his skill-set so much better.

That’s what makes this move so underrated. Yes, they have gotten a couple picks from Randall as he gives them a ball-hawking centerfielder. But they also were able to get the most from Peppers because of his arrival.