The Cleveland Browns didn’t have a lot of money or wiggle room to make big moves this offseason.
Their biggest additions came from the 2025 NFL Draft, as expected.
The team’s financial situation isn’t that much better, and it needs to shed some money before next offseason.
With that in mind, and considering a positional logjam, Zac Jackson of The Athletic identified three potential trade candidates.
Jackson predicted that the Browns could look to deal both veteran quarterbacks, Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, and cornerback Greg Newsome II before this season begins.
“This is a tough one given the uncertainty across the Browns’ roster. It’s possible — maybe even likely — that either Flacco or Pickett won’t be on the team, and that the Browns will keep two rookie quarterbacks. Cornerback Greg Newsome II is under contract only through 2025 and could be traded sometime between August and early November with no dead cap hit,” Jackson wrote.
Newsome is one of the leaders of Cleveland’s defense on and off the field.
If the Browns can’t find a way to keep him at a discount, it might be better to look for a trade and get something in return for his services before it’s too late.
As for the quarterbacks, this might be the wisest decision, even if it means not contending this year.
Flacco won’t be a long-term solution at the position, so keeping him just for the 2025 season may not make a lot of sense.
Pickett, on the other hand, hasn’t established himself as a viable starter since he entered the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and while he’s 27 years old and could have some upside, the Browns may want to give rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders a chance instead.
The Browns have two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, which is expected to have a stacked quarterback class, so they need to figure out whether they have something in Gabriel or Sanders.
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