Brock Osweiler trade a masterstroke for Browns
The Cleveland Browns shocked the football world on Thursday by trading for Brock Osweiler. It only added to an already tremendous day by Lake Erie.
The Browns are a joke. Maybe it’s time to make that a past-tense sentence.
Cleveland entered NFL free agency on Thursday morning with more than $100 million in cap space. This, on top of a pair of first-round picks in the upcoming draft. General manager Sashi Brown and his coaching staff endured a brutal 1-15 season all for this moment.
It’s already beginning to pay off.
In one of the NFL’s most shocking trades, the Browns acquired quarterback Brock Osweiler from the Houston Texans, along with a sixth-round pick this year and a second-round selection in 2018. In return, the Browns are giving up a fourth-rounder in 2017, while absorbing $16 million in salary this season.
It’s nothing short of brilliance and a dash of creativity from Brown, who has Cleveland on the upswing for the first time in 25 years. Cleveland was never going to use all of its cap space, and decided to take on what amounts to an expiring contract after 2018 to garner another asset. If Cleveland decides to release or trade Osweiler — and there are reports it could happen immediately — the Browns could continue to recycle their roster and add to its stockpile.
Cleveland, in addition to Osweiler, acquired a duo of young, talented offensive linemen in center JC Tretter and guard Kevin Zeitler on Thursday. The moves give the Browns one of the most prolific lines in the league, providing a quality front for whoever their quarterback may be come September.
While other teams are throwing fistfuls of cash at flashy players with ample endorsement deals, the Browns are building wisely through the trenches.
Cleveland also has the first and 12th-overall selections in the NFL Draft, giving it ample ammunition to improve quickly. The Browns will almost certainly take defensive end Myles Garrett with the first pick, while the 12th is probably the best available player.
The talking point coming from Thursday will be Osweiler, but that’s to miss the big picture. Cleveland simply used Osweiler to get another high pick next year, for a draft that’s loaded with top-end quarterback talent. The Browns were the butt of every free agency assessment last year, allowing Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz, Tashaun Gipson and Travis Benjamin out the door. This time around, Brown and his front office are acquiring talent and picks at a staggering rate.
Of course, none of that matters without proper execution of said selections. If the Browns come out of the draft with a haul resembling Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson, or Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel, this was all for naught.
The difference? Brown seems to understand value. Instead of potentially overpaying Terrelle Pryor, he signed Kenny Britt to a relatively cheap four-year, $32 million deal before building a fortress on the line of scrimmage. He then acquired a quarterback nobody wanted, a quarterback so unwanted by his own team that parting with a second-round selection was worth it.
The Browns have a long, dark road ahead. For the first time in a long time, the headlights are on.