The Browns, currently sitting at 4-3 and in third place in the AFC North, are not expected to swing a major deal in advance of Tuesday’s trade deadline, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Cabot does not anticipate the club acquiring a high-profile talent or trading one away.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham became the subject of trade speculation even before his first season in Cleveland was over, and those rumors have continued to crop up ever since. The Browns have done their best to quash all such rumblings, and Beckham will likely stay put at least through the end of the 2021 campaign. After all, he is dealing with a painful sprain in his right shoulder, and he is still owed $9MM over the rest of the season, so even if Cleveland were interesting in making a trade, there are obvious hurdles.
Plus, the Browns have every reason to keep Beckham around. Although he and QB Baker Mayfield have yet to develop a consistent rapport, OBJ continues to get open and remains an elite talent, so it would be surprising to see a Cleveland outfit that has postseason aspirations make that type of trade.
The same logic applies to tight ends David Njoku and Austin Hooper. Neither player has offered much production in 2021 — aside from a monster Week 5 game for Njoku that accounted for over half of his 2021 receiving yards and his only touchdown — but the hope is that the passing game will improve as the season goes on, just as it did last year. Njoku is playing on an expiring contract and requested a trade on several occasions last summer, but his most recent comments on the matter suggested that he would like to remain in Cleveland, and Cabot expects both him and Hooper to still be Browns once the deadline has passed.
Speaking of Mayfield, Cabot says the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft will likely require offseason surgery on his injured shoulder. His injury has complicated extension talks, and now, if an extension is reached, it probably won’t happen until after the season. Mayfield is under club control through 2022 via the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, which the Browns exercised earlier this year.
In related news, Cleveland does have starting RT Jack Conklin back in action for today’s critical matchup with the Steelers. Conklin had missed the prior two games with a knee injury.
‘ OBJ continues to get open and remains an elite talent…’ If OBJ was continually open. don’t you think his QB would throw it to him?
Not if his QB can’t make the throw.
That hasn’t been the issue. Browns have 4 drops today already in the first half.
7 total dropped passes today and a fumble by Landry deep in Pitt territory.
But yeah…it’s bakers fault.
Because when he does throw it to him, OBJ drops it.
Odell does have fantastic catching ability until it’s game time, wise move Cleveland, wise move..
This team is so hard to be a fan of. Enough talent but just the wrong mix.
I hate saying this but this team isn’t going anywhere! For a offense that has every skill position double deep and a good offense line and you only score 10 points vs Steelers? This team on paper had everyone’s hopes high? Last 4 games 1-3 and some of the play calling? Enough said! Maybe next year!
The team seems to play better without Odell and I understand that’s a talking point already. However, I feel Baker has been cast so much as a “game manager” yet when you go back and look at his “Odell-less” rookie record breaking season, running game be dammed, one has to wonder if Mayfield is being misused.
Lost to a team with an AARP QB, no kicker and a coach who lost his kicker on one of the worst play calls ever.
Maybe this is just me being a jerk, but I love it when arrogant, loud mouth, and self-serving players like OBJ go down the tank so quickly. Right behind Le’Veon Bell and the rest. Maybe that’s something I need to work on…
I think you have to purchase a site subscription to get the advanced sensitivity training session.
Are we sure we should be using elite in the same sentence as Odell Beckham Jr? When has he proven to be an elite WR?