Cleveland Browns 5 best trade chips as they prepare for 2022 season
By John Suchan
![Browns running back Kareem Hunt (27) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the second half against the Baltimore Ravens, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio. [Jeff Lange/Beacon Journal]Browns 22](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2Fhttps-3A-2F-2Fdawgpounddaily-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fimagn-images-2F2018-2F08-2F17240852-850x560-25d9d2e8578718764d051af67ac16682496d847d04d7099bd7169a0ce28fd04c.jpg "Browns running back Kareem Hunt (27) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the second half against the Baltimore Ravens, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio. [Jeff Lange/Beacon Journal]Browns 22")
Cleveland Browns trade chip No. 4: RB, Kareem Hunt
RB. 4. player. 53. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Browns. KareemHunt
It was reported this week that Kareem Hunt would like to remain in Cleveland long-term. He would like to get a contract extension with the team and has let them know of that interest — as was recently reported on Cleveland.com by Mary Kay Cabot.
It’s nice that Hunt would like to remain a Cleveland Brown for the rest of his career but he’s also a valuable trade chip that the team could play before the season starts in September. I recently wrote about how several teams would love to add the talented running back. Hunt’s in the last year of his contract and if the Browns were to trade him now,they’d save $6 million in cap space.
As we get closer to the season there will certainly be teams that will be dealing with early-season injuries to players. The Browns are very deep on the player chart in the run department. They have Nick Chubb and D’Ernest Johnson as the team’s other primary backs if Hunt were traded. Johnson could be the alternate trade chip if Hunt’s not traded. We’ll discuss that a bit more in-depth later in this article.
Cleveland Browns trade chip No. 3: WR, Anthony Schwartz
Browns. 3. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 53. WR. AnthonySchwartz
Anthony Schwartz is entering his second season with the Browns. While he was drafted in the third round in last year’s NFL Draft, he didn’t have a great season. While he contributed some on special teams in fielding kicks he was pretty much non-existent in catching the ball as a wide receiver where he only caught 10 passes.
He ran routes poorly a year ago and missed some of the season due to injury. So far this offseason and in OTA’s he’s getting some praise from his coach Kevin Stefanski in describing Schwartz’s improvements. But the Browns also drafted a new wide receiver in David Bell from Purdue, who’s more of a slot receiver — and doesn’t drop many passes.
With the added pressure of having to compete and being challenged by a player like Bell and several other new additions to the wide receiver room like Mike Harley Jr, the chances for Schwartz to see the field a lot more may still be limited this next season.
There are many other teams in the league that need a young and upcoming receiver like the Chicago Bears, as I suggested in a previous article. While a trade involving Schwartz would surprise some, he does have some value and could catch on with a new team and have more opportunity than he’s projected to get now with the Browns.