3 players the Cleveland Browns could trade for on draft night

Cleveland Browns trade prospect No. 2 – Kevin Byard, Safety

Jim Schwartz has historically run a base 4-3 defense which means the Cleveland Browns won’t need to add another star at safety, but if the price was right, Kevin Byard would make a lot of sense.

Byard will be 30 at the start of the 2023 season and is likely in the back half of his career, but he continues to be a great player. Just two years ago in 2021, Byard was a Pro Bowl selection and an All-Pro player. 

Not only is Schwartz familiar with Byard from his days at Tennessee, but the Titans also asked him to take a pay decrease this offseason of which he declined.

This may seem like a crazy idea, but if Byard was willing to restructure his contract to a three-year deal, the Browns may consider moving on from Grant Delpit and going with Byard and Juan Thornhill as starting safeties in 2023.

It would be great to keep Delpit as the backup safety, but after starting the last two years he would likely request a trade and not be happy to ride the pine all season. 

With the Titans already having cap issues and Byard giving them a lot of relief the next two years, it likely wouldn’t take a ton of draft capital to finalize the trade. The biggest issue for the Browns would be restructuring the deal and being willing to part ways with Delpit.