Cleveland Browns: 5 trade targets in event of an Eagles fire sale

1. DT Fletcher Cox

The obvious trade target for Cleveland is Cox, who has been one of the league’s best interior defensive lineman for the past seven years. With his status and contract, it doesn’t make much sense for the Eagles to keep him if they will be starting over.

Cox is not the dominant force he was a few seasons ago (he turned 30 in December), but he’s still a disruptive pass-rusher, as the Browns interior offensive line discovered first hand in Week 11. He’d be a massive upgrade over Sheldon Richardson and Larry Ogunjobi, and would pair with Andrew Billings to form an excellent middle of the line.

With Cox drawing double-teams every play, Garrett and his new EDGE friend could tee off on their one-on-one matchups, and the linebackers would benefit greatly from stronger iDL play. The problem is how much Cox will cost.

He is set to make nearly $24 million in each of the next two seasons, which is more than Aaron Donald will make from 2022 to 2024. It’s a high price to pay for a player who is not the best of his position group, only one of the best. However, those numbers fall to $16 million and $17 million for his new team, without any guarantees. If the Browns were to restructure Cox’s deal and guarantee most, if not all of his cap hit in exchange for a lower total, and maybe even add another year or two to the back, then things get very interesting.

The biggest roadblock will be convincing the Eagles to part with him for a reasonable price and take on the $21 million in dead money. There will also be more suitors for Cox’s services than just Cleveland.

The Eagles are in a really tough financial situation right now, but that just means the Browns can take advantage. Andrew Berry already has a relationship with Philly’s front office, and could use it to land the Browns an impact player.