With the Cleveland Browns fully in offseason mode, the rumor mill is already swirling with big-name players being linked. It’s hard to believe that a star player would be enticed to come to Cleveland after three years of failure, but having Deshaun Watson as the quarterback will certainly help lure some guys in.
There’s no doubt that Andrew Berry will be motivated to make some moves, as his reputation is on the line after giving up six picks and a fully guaranteed $230 million contract for Watson. The big thing to watch, will he get more aggressive feeling that his seat could be warmer and warmer if the team has a fourth straight disappointing season in 2023.
The hot name right now is DeAndre Hopkins. With Kliff Kingsbury out, it appears that Hopkins won’t return to the Cardinals and will be released or traded. Watson and Hopkins have a history together in Houston, but the Browns should be careful on this one. Here are three reasons to avoid a Hopkins trade.
Reason No. 3 to avoid DeAndre Hopkins: OBJ 2.0
Slow down just a moment if you think that I’m calling Hopkins the same type of guy that Odell Beckham was for the Cleveland Browns. All wide receivers have a little diva in them, but nothing jumps off the chart as a red flag for Hopkins.
My concern with adding Hopkins is your limiting targets for your other main players like Amari Cooper and David Njoku. If Donovan Peoples-Jones has another strong offseason you could throw him in there as well. Then with limited targets, frustration comes and then acting out follows —as we saw with OBJ.
My point is, the Browns could really use an upgrade at wide receiver that would move DPJ to the third guy, or just a strong candidate to upgrade the third receiving position. However, I don’t think that the Browns need a complete overhaul of the position by adding a superstar like Hopkins.
If Cooper was getting eight targets in 2022, do you really want to see them drop in half to make sure Hopkins gets the ball? There’s only one ball on the field at a time, and only one position player can take the handoff or catch from the quarterback each play.
Reason No. 2 to avoid DeAndre Hopkins: Wide receiver is not the issue
Kind of going back to reason No. 3, the Cleveland Browns have plenty of issues on this team, but wide receiver is not their most pressing. I would love to see a mid-tier free agent signed to come in and be the third receiver, or a fourth-round pick on a speedy guy with great hands in the 2023 draft.
But to make a trade for a superstar that will limit what you can do for the remainder of free agency seems silly. Defensive tackle, defensive end, and safety are all three well above wide receiver as a priority this offseason. With Jadeveon Clowney and Ronnie Harrison unlikely to return, and John Johnson likely to make the roster next year, Andrew Berry is going to be rebuilding this defense.
While the defense needs a major overhaul, I would also make the argument that receiver isn’t even the top priority this offseason on the offense. I know everyone loves this offensive line and the commentators on Sunday love to talk about how elite this group is.
But the fact is, they struggle tremendously in pass protection as a collective group. With Jack Conklin under a large contract and Jedrick Wills still having a year left on his rookie deal, the Browns won’t be big spenders at offensive tackle, but I fully expect them to draft a prospect who could get thrown into the mix if there are more struggles.
It just seems wasteful to give up more for a superstar wide receiver when your quarterback doesn’t have enough time to even get the ball down the field.
Reason No. 1 to avoid DeAndre Hopkins: Browns have cap space, draft capital concerns
Right now, if you pull up the Cleveland Browns on Over the Cap, you will see they are nearly $10 million in the red.Let’s not panic yet as there are a ton of restructures and players to be cut that will certainly get that number in check before the start of the season — plus a good bit of rollover from this season.
However, with large contracts going to Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Deshaun Watson, and others, the Browns are now in a position where they can’t miss on free agents or draft picks because their resources are becoming more and more limited.
On top of that, they won’t have a first-round pick in 2023 or 2024. They’re also missing three additional picks as a part of the Watson trade.
What does all this mean? With Hopkins looking for a multi-year deal likely making him the highest-paid receiver in the league, and the Browns already limited on draft picks over the next two seasons I don’t see a scenario where a trade makes sense.
The pick may only be a second or third-rounder with only two years left on his contract, but the extension required to execute the trade is what will take the Browns out of the running.
Cleveland can likely afford one big-name player this offseason, but I struggle to believe it’s going to be a receiver, specifically a guy as talented as Hopkins.
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