Cleveland Browns: Is a Duke Johnson trade imminent?

Mary Kay Cabot believes there’s no turning back as the Cleveland Browns and Duke Johnson seem to be headed for a separation from one another

After sitting out voluntary OTAs, running back Duke Johnson reported to the Cleveland Browns for mandatory minicamps. Despite him being there, he made it clear that he still wasn’t happy with the team and wants to be traded.

Johnson currently finds himself behind Nick Chubb on the depth chart but also understands that he will have an even harder time finding snaps after the first eight games. That’s because the Browns signed former league-leading rusher Kareem Hunt in the offseason.

Hunt will serve an eight-game suspension for an off-field incident but will be in line for plenty of snaps once he’s back. Knowing this, Johnson desires to go elsewhere — and the saga took a recent turn that neither side can recover from according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

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After Johnson stated he still wanted out, quarterback Baker Mayfield said any awkwardness would be self-inflicted. This prompted the husband of Johnson’s agent to attack Mayfield on Twitter. Luther Campbell, from 2 Live Crew, is the agent’s husband and he wasn’t too kind with his words.

Campbell also warned Baker that he isn’t immune to a team turning their back on him just because of the position he plays. He tweeted out several star quarterbacks who were traded — although he was wrong about Drew Brees who actually left in free agency rather than via trade.

There’s some truth to what Campbell was saying, but it’s also possible that Mayfield was simply trying to show faith that he believed this season would be special for the Browns and that he isn’t concerned with people who don’t want to be there. That sentiment was echoed by head coach Freddie Kitchens, who said the same thing when asked about Gerald McCoy spurning the Browns in free agency.

"“We want people that want to be here for the right reasons. If there’s any reservation at all, we don’t want anybody to be here. What we’re about to do, it’s not for everybody.’’ — Kitchens said via Cabot of Cleveland.com"

Cabot may not be a favorite of many Cleveland Browns fans, but it appears she’s correct on this one. Duke’s original trade request was met with a claim from the team that he was still in their plans. However, the latest war of words has made it very awkward.

Next. Analyzing Browns depth chart at linebacker. dark

Whether that’s ‘self-inflicted’ or not, the truth is there seems to be an imminent separation between the two sides.

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