The first of the Browns’ two deals with the Giants will bring Olivier Vernon to Cleveland. With the veteran edge presence now set to start opposite Myles Garrett, the Browns are shopping their previous Garrett sidekick.
Cleveland has made Emmanuel Ogbah available for a trade, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
While Ogbah has been held in high regard by both of the Cleveland regimes for which he’s played, with part of the Browns’ reasoning for taking Denzel Ward over Bradley Chubb last year due to Ogbah’s presence, Vernon will be the new starter. Ogbah is entering a contract year.
After a foot injury ended his 2017 season, Ogbah suffered an ankle malady early last year. But the former second-round pick shook that off and played 14 games — all starts. He has 12.5 career sacks and may be an option as a complementary pass rusher or depth piece elsewhere, though it will depend on what the Browns will deem an acceptable return. Ogbah could seemingly be a bench option for Cleveland, but the Browns do have Chad Thomas, Chris Smith and Anthony Zettel behind their high-profile starting tandem.
Should John Dorsey pull the trigger on an Ogbah trade, it would be yet another Sashi Brown-era piece he will have jettisoned. That has been a frequent habit of the current Browns GM’s since he took over.
I believe if you look back for what Dorsey said about choosing to draft Ward, it was more about having a CB that could cover the WRs in their division, especially Antonio Brown.
Also both ward & chubb are studs so it’s a moot point. Both worked out. Neither gm looks bad. And Cleveland already has decent DE’s.
6th round pick lions will take him, oh wait not a former patriots player never mind.
How do you miss on bradley chubb him and garrett easily could have been dominant for the next decade. Instead they hope vernon will not get injuried
The alternative is having a terrible set of corners. I wanted Chubb at the time too, but corner was — and still is — the bigger need.
It makes sense to shop him since he needs a new contract soon. Other teams will likely view him as an above average pass rusher if given a bigger role and would likely pay him more than the Browns would. On the other hand, the Browns shouldn’t make a deal just for the sake of doing so. If they can’t get at least a semi decent return for him, just hold on to him for depth. Worst case is he walks at the end of the year and the Browns maybe get a comp pick.
Like others I wanted Chubb for a lasting passrush combo that would not leave town in free agency. But the success of Mayfield and Ward shut down some of Dorsey’s draft critics ( I quit on PD online).
Now this trade for a DE revisits those decisions. Dorsey is bold! Nevermind the critics! Sacrifice future talent for another WR! Why the rush? Does Beckham move the needle on wins even if he produces as hoped? Temporarily, and not by much.