Cleveland Browns fill huge void with Tuesday morning trade

Deshaun Watson has stolen the media attention, but the Cleveland Browns trade for Chase Winovich is going to be an underrated move.

With other new in the Cleveland Browns organization headlining Tuesday morning, Andrew Berry once again made a very calculated trade that should benefit the organization tremendously.

The Browns swapped linebackers with the New England Patriots, sending Mack Wilson east and getting Chase Winovich in return. Wilson has been a disgruntled employee since losing playing time that stems back to an injury in 2020.

With Jacob Phillips and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah on the roster, Wilson knew his clock was ticking. I’m shocked that his tenure didn’t end with his release. Wilson will get a shot at playing time in New England, and this is a great situation for him.

In return, the Browns get the former third-round pick from Michigan. Winovich had 11 sacks in his first two seasons with the team, but when moved to more of a traditional linebacker role in 2021, the production dropped off.

In 2021 Winovich only appeared in 13 games, had zero sacks, and only 11 tackles. This isn’t a guy that is going to come in and be a star defensive end, but he will fill the role of the third defensive end position well.

With only one year remaining on his contract and a $1.2 million hit, this was a home run for Berry once again. Keeping a guy like Takk McKinley was going to be too costly, and now the Browns can look to spend more money on keeping Jadeveon Clowney or bringing a guy like Za’Darious Smith in.

This is one of those signings that isn’t flashy but will pay huge dividends in 2022.