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Fixing the Cleveland Browns: Build through the draft or trade for right now?

By Elliot Kennel

CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 29: Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam listens to general manager John Dorsey prior to a preseason game against the Detroit Lions during a preseason game at FirstEnergy Stadium on August 29, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OHIO - AUGUST 29: Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam listens to general manager John Dorsey prior to a preseason game against the Detroit Lions during a preseason game at FirstEnergy Stadium on August 29, 2019 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 28: Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey answers questions from the media during the NFL Scouting Combine on February 28, 2019 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 28: Cleveland Browns general manager John Dorsey answers questions from the media during the NFL Scouting Combine on February 28, 2019 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Are the Cleveland Browns close enough that they should trade for stars right now that can help, or should the 2020 offseason be all about adding talent via the draft?

If you were John Dorsey, would you try to build the Cleveland Browns through the draft for 2020, returning to the Sashi Brown blueprint but with better drafting?  Or would you trade the Browns draft picks for veterans who are higher priced but ready to play from the get-go next year?

It is time now to plan for the off-season, as the 2-6 Browns are close to being knocked out of the playoffs yet.

This year, the Browns stopped building for the future and instead traded away draft picks hoping for immediate improvement.

The biggest deal was giving up  a first round pick (seventeenth overall) as well as a third round pick and a former first rounder in starting strong safety Jabrill Peppers, which resulted in Odell Beckham, Jr. coming to Cleveland.

But they also gave up late round picks for offensive linemen Justin McCray and Wyatt Teller, and for wide receiver Taywan Taylor, while also overspending their cap allowance by $25 million dollars using carryover cap dollars saved from previous years.

Yet none of these moves paid off.

So, if you were Dorsey, would you continue to back your belief that the Browns are a playoff caliber team, and do you feel strongly enough about it that you are willing to trade away even more future draft resources and cap space?    Below are listed two possible paths that the Browns could follow in 2020.

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