Cleveland Browns buyers and sellers guide to the trade deadline

What will the Cleveland Browns actually try to do at the trade deadline?

Andrew Berry and the Cleveland Browns front office have an overall plan for the trade deadline, and we can deduce what they might do based on their record and implied playoff possibilities.

The fan base has its own plan, which is to always add payroll, picking up famous overpaid players, and trade away draft picks if necessary. This is actually a good plan if your team is aging, has salary cap problems in future years, and is about to retire a superstar quarterback.

Thus Tampa Bay, with a quarterback the same age as Captain America (though equally durable, apparently), gambled on Antonio Brown. A team like New Orleans, with quarterback Drew Brees approaching Social Security age, might be willing to part with a substantial draft pick if offered a legit star player. The Pittsburgh Steelers might want to plug a few holes also, with Big Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow out of 90-day warranty by now. Even the Steelers, however, figure they will eventually make a transition to Mason Rudolph or another young quarterback who will be successful, so they may not be completely desperate enough to throw the future out the window.

On the other hand, teams that want to tank for draft picks are going to unload veteran players, especially older players or underachievers with big multiyear contracts. They are looking for draft picks in return, or else simply clearing salary cap.

The New York Jets decided they didn’t want to risk Le’Veon Bell’s injury guarantees kicking in. The Dallas Cowboys unloaded some players as Everson Griffen was traded to the Detroit Lions for a conditional sixth-round pick, and cut Dontari Poe and Daryl Worley after no trade partner was found. Clarence E. Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Telegram  is spinning it as a get-tough move by Jerry Jones, but really it is a pragmatic salary cap decision in this writer’s mind. Similarly, the Bengals traded Carlos Dunlap to Seattle for a backup offensive lineman (he might save Joe Burrow’s life, so it is a good move) and a draft pick.

Cleveland, on the other hand, has a chance to make the playoffs, but want to continue to improve to close the gap with Pittsburgh and Baltimore. Don’t think they’re going to blow up the 2021 draft for or gobble up salary cap that could otherwise be used to feed star players such as Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward, Nick Chubb, Wyatt Teller and others. These players need pay raises. They would have to think twice about adding big money, but their cap is in good shape. They can add the right veteran player. They are actually in a similar situation with Baltimore. The Ravens are still young and figure to be in playoff contention for several years. They will be stingy with draft picks and long-term commitments, but receptive to the right veteran player.

Teams like the Browns or Ravens might be both buyers and sellers with the right partners. They could trade a high salary player for a Day Two draft pick, say, and then replace him by signing about  three short term players  paid for with late round picks. In this way they could clear future cap space, acquire more draft capital and still have an improved team in the short run. That type of analytics-based deal would be difficult for the Browns to pull off, however. It’s likely to happen at some point in Andrew Berry’s career, but the stars are not necessarily aligned properly in 2020.

The Browns are not going to get rich by making trade deadline deals. Remember that the Steelers and the Ravens are going to pick up players also, so really this is about staying even with the competition. Cleveland has a plan to build through the draft. They’re planning to pay for contract extensions for the good choices they have already made.

Their plan is not to stop now and blow up the future to make one desperate grab for a ring in 2020 with a Wild Card. Hence look for one or two smart additions that are not huge investments, but not a makeover for the whole team.