Here are five thoughts on the Cleveland Browns, the impending trade deadline, the jolt Jameis Winston gave the offense in Week 8 and more.
1. Suddenly, the Browns are interesting again. They’re still 2-6 and, unless they can put together a winning streak that runs through all of November, out of playoff contention. But Sunday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens stopped a five-game losing streak and energized a team that had high expectations — and entered the season with the highest payroll in NFL history. Winston threw for 334 yards and was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
Winston got a little lucky with the Ravens dropping interceptions (and some of their own passes), but the Browns’ offense looked almost nothing like it did previously. Winston had time to throw in a lot of cases, and he got rid of the ball quickly when the blitz got close. The Browns ran the ball well enough to keep that blitz at bay, attacked downfield and kept multiple receivers involved. The defense was good enough against Lamar Jackson and was able to seal the win with one final stop.
We don’t know if Winston can keep this up, but the current feeling is that the Browns not going to him earlier sunk any chance they had at being playoff contenders this season. Winston is on a one-year contract, and Cleveland’s future at quarterback feels wide open. Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed contract runs for two more seasons, and the team’s strategy over the last year and a half of pushing money forward — on Watson’s deal and others — to accommodate his contract adds to the future uncertainty.
Ahead of next week’s trade deadline, the Browns have unmovable contracts and major questions, but they probably don’t have a single player who could be considered untouchable.
It was never likely that the Browns would be full-on sellers at the deadline despite their decision to trade away Amari Cooper earlier this month. Still, some decisions and some overall clarity on the temperature of things might be pushed one way or another by what happens Sunday when they host the 4-3 Los Angeles Chargers. For at least one more week, the Browns play a game that’s both interesting and significant. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, and it’s a reminder of how bad late September and early October were.
2. If the Browns make a move between Sunday night and Tuesday, I think the two most likely players to be traded are veteran defensive linemen Za’Darius Smith and Dalvin Tomlinson. Smith because he’s still a good player at a premium position; Tomlinson because he’s still a solid player, and the Browns have depth at defensive tackle. There’s not a lot of edge depth on the current roster, and Smith has been a full-time starter, but in moving Smith the Browns would be acknowledging that they’re looking to the future.
Both Smith and Tomlinson have movable contracts, as they have no guaranteed money past this season. The acquiring team would only be on the hook for the remaining base salary for the rest of 2024. Those trade-friendly contracts mean the Browns could ask for something at least semi-significant in return, and that’s what it would take to push a speculated trade to the finish line. If multiple teams are looking for pass-rush help, and we assume that to be the case, then the Browns can potentially pit multiple bidders against one another.
As it stands, the Browns have an extra third-round pick in the 2025 draft (Cooper trade) and extra sixth-rounders from Minnesota and Chicago via the trade for Smith in 2023 and the August trade of defensive tackle Chris Williams. The Browns don’t have their own fifth-round pick as a result of the Smith trade with the Vikings, and the two seventh-rounders they previously owned were moved in the aforementioned Williams trade and the 2023 deal for Dustin Hopkins, who kicks against his former team this week.
It’s way too early to know the exact direction the Browns will take the roster — or where they might be forced to go by salary-cap constraints — in early 2025. But mid-round picks can be used in future trades and to help add inexpensive depth for future years, so any trade would be about maximizing value now and not necessarily picking a direction for next season. I don’t think the Browns could get a late third-rounder for Smith and one of their sixth-round picks, but they can certainly ask for that or something close to it.
3. I don’t believe the Browns will trade Nick Chubb. I’m not sure they’d get the kind of offer it would take to make them seriously consider moving a player the organization and fan base respect so greatly.
But if the right offer came, the team would have to think about it.
One of the positives of Sunday’s win was that Chubb, in his second game back from a major knee injury, ran with confidence. There were multiple runs in which Chubb encountered heavy traffic but was still able to push forward for yards. He’s yet to break a long one, and it’s probably likely that he’s not 100 percent back to full speed, but he looked at least a little like his old self. Chubb became the first running back this season to go over 50 rushing yards against the Ravens.
Chubb turns 29 in December and doesn’t have a contract for next season. The Browns wanted to keep him this season and supported him every step of the way through his rehab and road back. Chubb took a pay cut to stay and has never publicly expressed a desire to play elsewhere. But in an honest assessment of what this Browns roster might look like in December and what decisions might have to be made in February and March for the team to chart its best path forward, Chubb remaining in Cleveland is not a sure thing. So if some team offered, say, a fourth-round pick and the chance for Chubb to take significant carries in December, the Browns absolutely would have to ask themselves and the running back if that’s something that might be best for all involved.
In an ideal world, they would be able to pencil in Chubb as a big part of a good offense for as long as he wants to play. Back here in the real world, the team has to be thinking about the future of the running back position and the status of many of its most experienced players.
4. Myles Garrett is in his own tier — as a player, obviously, and a possible trade asset.
Possible? Yes. But highly, highly unlikely. Garrett said last week that he plans to be playing in Cleveland, and the most likely scenario is that Cleveland won’t be trading Garrett ahead of the deadline. Not only is it hard to imagine a team making an offer good enough for the Browns to trade Garrett, but the timing isn’t right. The Browns have to get through nine games and evaluate their entire roster and football operation in that time. They don’t want Garrett, who also turns 29 in December, to wear another uniform at any point. Even if the Browns do eventually decide they’re going to embrace a long-term rebuild, those decisions can come down the road.
At the 2022 trade deadline, the Los Angeles Rams reportedly offered the Carolina Panthers two first-round picks for edge rusher Brian Burns. The Browns would need more than that to move Garrett, not just because of his talents but because of his contract, which runs through 2026. The Browns would take on around $36 million in dead money for 2025 if they traded Garrett. They have $22 million in dead money for 2025 on Cooper’s contract, and Watson’s current cap number for 2025 is $72.9 million. So trading Garrett would signal a full teardown. And even if that eventually comes, it’s hard to imagine the Browns are ready for those decisions.
I know Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II has been the subject of trade rumors in the past, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be with the team next season. But as far as this year’s deadline, the Browns probably couldn’t get much draft compensation for Newsome because the team guaranteed his $13.37 million salary for 2025 by picking up his fifth-year option in the spring. It also is hard to imagine the Browns trading wide receiver Elijah Moore right now after his big game last week, but Moore’s current contract has no dead money and only runs through this season. In the unlikely event a team would make a real offer for Moore, the Browns would have to consider it.
5. Even teams having much better seasons than the Browns have problems, injury shortages and holes at spots on the depth chart. The trade deadline provides contenders a chance to find some temporary fixes, so the Browns should at least try to gauge what they can get for Smith and Tomlinson. I also wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the Browns seeking a young wide receiver in a potential trade return.
As far as the Browns and fixes, last week they looked a lot better because Winston played well. But they also ran the ball, had receivers producing and got a solid day at left tackle from Dawand Jones, who was benched as a right tackle earlier this month and hadn’t played left tackle since 2020 when he was at Ohio State.
If the Browns have real answers at key spots in their own building, they might have fewer problems going forward than their play for most of October led us to assume. If Jones and Cedric Tillman, to name two, can continue to ascend, that bodes well for the entire operation. Right now, it’s an operation that’s clearly better with Chubb and Wyatt Teller playing. Big decisions about players like Chubb and Teller can probably wait until the offseason.
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Though Winston is a bit prone to hyperbole, it was interesting to hear him say Wednesday that Jones “can and probably will be one of the best offensive tackles this NFL has seen.” Even if Jedrick Wills Jr. is cleared to play this week after missing last week with a knee injury, the Browns should give Jones another shot at left tackle. But “should” doesn’t mean they will. Wills is not under contract for next season, and capable left tackles are hard to find.
Though the trade deadline and the Week 10 bye are certainly checkpoints, the full story of the 2024 Browns is not written. The defense is still good, though this week it will be without Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah after his scary neck injury against Baltimore. It will probably also be without Denzel Ward, who suffered his sixth known concussion since 2018.
Ward, Owusu-Koramoah and Garrett are foundational pieces and, frankly, the players who give the defense a chance to be really good. The end of this season will probably be mostly a tryout for young players looking to play their way into the team’s thinking. If it’s going to be anything different from that, the Browns have to deliver another win Sunday and see how far they can ride Winston and this remade offense.
(Top photo: Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)
