For the Cleveland Browns to get back to the playoffs next season, the front office needs to think outside the box and entertain the idea of a few trades
After a season that left the Cleveland Browns out in the cold and missing the playoffs, the team has to start thinking outside of the box if they want to get back to the postseason next year.
There’s been a lot of chatter about the Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield and his current status with the team — mainly whether or not he’s the long-term answer for the franchise? While the decision on Mayfield is very important to the game plan for the team, there are other players that have value now.
Do the Browns need to shake things up a bit to get back to winning more consistently? The last two years have been the polar opposite of one another. Several factors were at work in creating that problem for the team. At this point though, what was working two years ago seems impossible to get back. With that in mind, new strategies need to be tried in order to correct the issues.
With that as a starting point let’s look at several trades that may have you agitated at first but give them a second or two to digest and maybe you’ll agree in the end. Something needs to be changed up if this team wants to have more sustained success.
Cleveland Browns Trade No. 4: Kareem Hunt to the Miami Dolphins
Browns fans, before you start throwing things at your iPhone or computer screen, let’s just pause and hear out the idea behind this trade. Yes, Kareem Hunt is a hometown kid. He played football at the University of Toledo, just a hop, skip, and a jump up the shoreline of Lake Erie.
He’s also a very valuable asset that the team has and could dangle in front of a few other more desperate NFL franchises like the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins just fired their coach, Brian Flores, despite having a winning record and always seem to be reaching for the stars in hopes of turning around their franchise.
The Dolphins don’t have a running game that any of you could recite their backs names like we do here in Cleveland. As a team, Miami finished 30th in the league with only 1,568 yards in rushing yards. Their current backs include Myles Gaskin, who added 612 yards as the club’s leading rusher.
They also added Duke Johnson, yes that Duke Johnson who used to play for the Browns. Johnson came to Miami from the Houston Texans. He finished the season respectably with 330 yards.
As you can see Hunt would add a whole new elite running back to a team trying to make the playoffs. The Dolphins have a ton of cap space, upwards of $73 million, so taking Hunt in a trade could easily happen. Here is one proposal that could work out nicely for both teams:
Cleveland would trade:
Kareem Hunt
Miami would trade:
3rd Round Pick in 2022 draft
4th round Pick in 2022 draft
2nd Round Pick 2023 draft
Hunt’s salary is $6 million this next season before he becomes a free agent in 2023. The Dolphins could easily take Hunt’s salary and the Browns could bring in more draft picks, including a second-round pick next year.
Cleveland has had a great tandem in Hunt and Nick Chubb over recent years. However, Hunt was injured for the majority of the season and when the two have played together on Sundays the Browns have struggled to find that right type of mix that gets the most out of each player.
Most games in the past have involved the two alternating possessions on offense. The team has tried working them on the field at the same time, but it has gelled yet.
You add in that you have another running back in D’Ernest Johnson, basically waiting in the wings to get his shot on this team and something needs to happen. Johnson is a restricted free agent, meaning he can look around the league for a new team, but the Browns can match the offers and have some say in what happens to him.
Johnson, by some accounts, could be looking at a contract that would pay him between $2 and $3 million a season. That would certainly be a better value than Hunt’s current deal.
Cleveland Browns Trade No. 3: Baker Mayfield to The Washington Football Team
Baker Mayfield can probably be tied to four or five other NFL teams as being a possible good fit if the Browns ever entertained the idea of trading the former first pick of the 2018 NFL draft. The team has come out publicly and given their support of sticking with Mayfield going into next year despite him having a horrible season. He was injured for most of the year and that likely had some to do with his lackluster efforts.
However, most of Mayfield’s issues, in the eyes of this writer are his dealing with the mental aspect of the game. Mayfield seems to have regressed in almost all areas. His decision-making, ability to read the field accurately, throwing the football in general, and his footwork continued to spiral out of control by the season’s end.
Cleveland says they’re going forward with him but saying something doesn’t always guarantee that’ll they’ll go through with that (ask poor Josh Rosen about his end in Arizona). Mayfield will be entering his last season on his rookie contract and he’s due just shy of $19 million this upcoming season.
Rather than play out this season and maybe even franchise tag Mayfield the following season, if a new deal couldn’t get done, then the Browns might be better off trading Mayfield now.
One team that has a need at quarterback and still has a team, with a strong defense and an opportunity to win now would be The Washington Football Team. Washington also has $38 million over the cap to play with. Ron Riveria is also the head coach and his experience as a strong leader might suit Mayfield best.
With other teams like the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, who are searching for that starting quarterback, neither of those teams has a head coach at the moment and are in a state of change. The Washinton team has all the pieces in place and adding Mayfield might take them to the next level of success. It would also give Mayfield a fresh start with a new team. The trade could look like this:
Cleveland would trade:
Baker Mayfield
4th Round Pick in 2022 Draft
6th Round Pick in 2022 Draft
Washington would trade:
Landon Collins
4th Round Pick in 2022 Draft
6th Round Pick in 2022 Draft
3rd Round Pick in 2023 Draft
Washington safety Landon Collins could step into the Cleveland defense and immediately help strengthen their secondary. Browns free agents Ronnie Harrison and M.J. Stewart could both be leaving so bringing in a player like Collins would be a help to the team.
If Collins was traded, then Washington would save $12 million in cap savings. He’d still have three years left on his deal before he became a free agent in 2025.
Cleveland Browns Trade No. 2: Austin Hooper to the Carolina Panthers
The last two years in Cleveland for tight end Austin Hooper have been very disappointing. He came to the Browns in 2020 from the Atlanta Falcons in free agency. While playing for the Falcons he had a career-best 75 receptions and 787 yards and six touchdowns scored in 2019.
Expectations were high when he arrived in town. With other tight ends David Njoku and Harrison Bryant on the squad as well, getting the chance to make the most of your opportunity is crucial. Hooper’s numbers were way down the last two seasons. Combined he only totaled 780 yards with seven touchdowns. He was targeted 131 times and only caught 84 passes.
David Njoku is a free agent and could go elsewhere this offseason, but if the Browns were smart, they’d try signing him to a new deal and part with Hooper in a trade or release.
With that in mind, maybe a change of scenery would help reenergize Hooper’s career. The Browns would save $9.5 in cap space, and they could go out and get an additional tight end through the draft.
The trade proposition with the Carolina Panthers would breakdown like this:
Cleveland trades:
Austin Hooper
6th Round Pick in 2022 Draft
Carolina trades:
Morgan Fox
6th Round Pick in 2022 Draft
The Browns will need help on the defensive line next season, especially on the interior. Fox had a nice career with the Los Angeles Rams and this past year played with the Panthers.
He signed an $8 million, two-year deal with them. The Panthers would save $4 million in cap space if they traded him. He’s a free agent again in 2023.
Cleveland Browns Trade No. 1: Jarvis Landry to New England Patriots
Jarvis Landry lost his best friend Odell Beckham Jr. to the Los Angeles Rams midway through the season because his friend demanded out of Cleveland. Landry has hung in there to finish the year but has indicated his disappointment with the whole fiasco.
Landry initially came to the Browns in a trade from the Miami Dolphins in 2018. He has been seen by many, to have started the “culture” change in Berea and Browns headquarters when he arrived.
He’s not a free agent until next season but the Browns would probably be better off parting ways with the wide receiver. If he were traded or released the team would save over $15 million in cap space.
So, with that, who would welcome a receiver such as Landry? And if the proposition of a trade were brought up by the team, who would Landry welcome to go to?
Why not multiple Super Bowl champs New England Patriots, and their future Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick? In addition, the Patriots have struck gold in drafting their new franchise quarterback Mac Jones. Jones, who had a terrific rookie campaign. Adding a veteran player like Landry could be big to the team’s future. The trade offer would like this:
Cleveland trades:
Jarvis Landry
4th Round Draft Pick in 2022
New England trades:
Kyle Van Noy
6th Round Draft Pick 2022
The Browns are needing help in the linebacker department. They had brought in Anthony Walker a year ago to help improve that part of the team but he’s a free agent and could be moving on. Van Noy is an excellent linebacker.
The nine-year vet has played most of his years with the Patriots. This past season he recorded 66 tackles, along with seven quarterback hits and five sacks.
His contract is up in 2023 and the Patriots would save $5 million in cap space if they traded him. The 30-year-old would still have a few more good years to help the Browns out and Landry would get that fresh start with the Patriots, a team he used to play against a lot when he was on the Miami Dolphins team.