Do the Cowboys have anything to offer the Cleveland Browns?
It was just a few weeks ago when the Cleveland Browns held on to beat the Dallas Cowboys in a shootout. However much has happened since then in the Lone Star State as the Cowboys’ season is now in the dumpster. The coaching staff, in their first season, already looks clueless and as if they have lost the locker room.
It all began after the Cowboys lost the face of their franchise in quarterback Dak Prescott for the rest of the season with a broken ankle. Since then, backup Andy Dalton has also gone down with a concussion, as they have recently lost to the Washington Football Team. Even in the soft NFC East, the Cowboys do not look like they are in position to win the division.
Just today, the Cowboys have shipped off veteran pass rusher Everson Griffen after he just signed a deal in Dallas this offseason. They got in exchange for Griffen a conditional sixth round pick from the Detroit Lions. Are the Cowboys getting set to blow up the roster? Is Prescott going to return to the Cowboys, or are they going into a full rebuild mode?
If the Cowboys are about to enter into a firesale, the Browns should be buyers as they continue to be in the hunt for a playoff spot in 2020. Who may be of interest to general manager Andrew Berry and his team? Here are three potential and realistic trade targets for the Browns as the trade deadline approaches.
1. WR Michael Gallup
After the injury to Odell Beckham Jr., the Cleveland Browns will be in the market for another wide receiver to add to the roster. The Browns could look towards the 2021 NFL Draft early on to land a new pass catcher for quarterback Baker Mayfield, or they could pick up the phone and see if Michael Gallup may be available for trade as the Cowboys look lost for the rest of the 2020 season.
Sure, the Browns’ offense looked great with Rashard Higgins, Jarvis Landry, and Donovan Peoples-Jones manning the position after Beckham Jr. went down. However, is this sustainable depth for the rest of the season? It absolutely is not. Not only would Gallup be a massive win for the Browns, but he would be a day-one starter at X in Cleveland.
Given he only has a year and a half left on his contract, the Browns may be able to obtain Gallup for the cost of just a third-round pick. The Browns have two picks in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, so this is a cost they may be willing to pay if Gallup hits the trade block.
With Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb still on the roster, the Cowboys may be willing to ship off the highly talented Gallup given their depth and lost hopes of the season after the injury to Prescott.
2. DT Antwaun Woods
Another position of no depth on the Browns’ roster is along the interior of their defensive line. As the trade deadline approaches they may be able to land the veteran big man in Dallas Antwaun Woods. He is only 27 years old, and is a restricted free agent after this season, meaning the Browns could easily tender him to keep him in brown and orange at a relatively cheap price beyond the rest of the 2020 season.
Given the impending free agency of Larry Ogunjobi, and his inability to prove he deserves an extension, the Browns can use Woods as a stop-gap and as a potential long-term piece. Sheldon Richardson, while he has been the best defensive tackle on the roster by a longshot in Cleveland, has a cap hit of $13 million next season with no dead money attached, so the Browns may opt to ship him away in the offseason as well.
The former undrafted free agent out of the University of Southern California has put together quite a nice career to this point, and now he had a potential moderate contract pending after the 2021 season. This is a risk the Browns should be willing to take given their lack of depth, and given that he may only cost a day-three pick to get the deal done.
3. LB Joe Thomas
The Browns desperately need a linebacker as second-year players Sione Takitaki and Mack Wilson have been subpar, free-agent addition B.J. Goodson has not been good by any metric, and rookie Jacob Phillips cannot get back to full health. At this point in the season, and by a wide margin, the best linebacker on the roster has been former Super Bowl MVP and veteran Malcolm Smith.
To both add depth and improve their current unit at the second level of their defense, the Browns could target one in Dallas. As Leighton Vander Esch is injury prone and Jaylon Smith is far to expensive, they may look to the next best option in Joe Thomas.
No, he is not a former first-rounder and future first-ballot Hall of Famer as the other Joe Thomas is, but he would be a big add for the Browns and for defensive coordinator Joe Woods. This is the last year of his deal, and considering the status of the Dallas defense, the Browns could get him for a future and conditional day-three pick as the trade deadline approaches.
Is he a significant upgrade to the unit? No. However he is certainly an upgrade over the likes of Goodson, Takitaki, and Wilson at the second level of the Browns’ defense.