NFL Trade Rumors
Projected Cap Space: -$38.6 million
Draft Picks: 12
Notable Free Agents:
1 – Quarterback
There’s a lot of competition for the worst NFL trade of all time, but when it’s all said and done the Browns’ deal for QB Deshaun Watson might take the top spot. We won’t belabor it here, but between the draft picks given up, the fully guaranteed $230 million salary, the suspension, the injuries and the poor play on the field that the team brass felt it had to ignore because of how much it invested to get him, it’s been a disaster on every level.
Now with Watson’s torn Achilles and subsequent re-tear, the Browns have no choice but to look into finding a new starter, even if Watson will be on the roster until at least 2026 thanks to his contract. The challenge is their options don’t look inspiring. Free agency and the trade market look less inspiring than past seasons, and the Browns’ hands would be tied anyway because of their cap situation. Cleveland has the No. 2 pick but the consensus is even the top two prospects in the 2025 class would have been picked after the top six in 2024.
Basically, the Browns have landed themselves in a quagmire with no easy way out.
2 – Defensive Line
This would have been a need even before DE Myles Garrett rocked the boat with his trade request. Garrett has been superb, winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2023 and earning first-team All-Pro honors for the second straight year and fourth time overall in his career. The Browns have been searching for other pass rushers to take advantage of the attention he draws for a few years now, though. Players like Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Alex Wright are better suited as rotational rushers at this stage in their respective developments, and Cleveland traded away veteran DE Za’Darius Smith during the season.
On the interior, veterans like Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris have been solid but face uncertain futures due to age and salary. Hurst is a free agent and 2024 second-round DT Michael Hall Jr. is coming off a serious knee injury. Help here is needed, whether it’s reinforcements or an overhaul.
And if the Browns do actually end up trading Garrett, the situation on the defensive line becomes much, much more dire....
