Trade deadline season brings out the boldest ideas. Analysts look at struggling teams, spot a star who might be available and draw up the kind of blockbuster that rarely happens in the NFL. Most of those ideas never get past the hypothetical stage. One of the latest involves the Browns and one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league.
Ben Solak of ESPN suggested the Browns, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings should all try to trade for Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
“How about the Browns? The LHD, no matter how fervent, must admit that Herbert would be the best Browns quarterback since … Bernie Kosar in the ’90s? The point here is that, for as far as Herbert’s stock has fallen this season, the steepness and suddenness of the decline smells fishy. Either this is an unprecedented collapse of what was, at least, a good starting quarterback in his prime or a blip on the radar of an otherwise solid NFL career. Isn’t this the moment to take a chance?” Solak wrote.
Solak was quick to admit the Chargers will almost certainly say no. Los Angeles is winless and badly in need of a reset, but Adam Schefter reported Monday that the Chargers have little interest in trading players. Solak also wrote that Jim Harbaugh would never sign off on moving his quarterback.
His argument is about value. Herbert has struggled badly this season, throwing interceptions Solak described as unlike anything in his career, which puts his trade value at its lowest point. Solak pointed to the Matthew Stafford trade as a comparison, when the Los Angeles Rams sent 2 first-round picks, a 3rd-round pick and Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions. Herbert is 5 years younger than Stafford was then and has 4 years left on his contract.
The Browns have the draft capital to make that kind of offer. They hold 2 first-round picks in 2027, including the Rams’ pick from the Myles Garrett trade, and 11 total selections.
That is exactly why a move like this is so unlikely. The Browns have built their plan around those picks, and next spring’s draft looks like their best path to a long-term quarterback.
The franchise also knows the risk of a massive quarterback trade. The 2022 deal for Deshaun Watson cost 3 first-round picks and a fully guaranteed contract, and Jimmy Haslam later admitted it was a big swing and a miss. Taking on Herbert’s huge contract would be a similar gamble.
Solak’s idea is a fun thought exercise, and Herbert would be a talented addition. But with the November 10 deadline arriving next Tuesday, the Browns are much more likely to find their next franchise quarterback in the 2027 draft than in Los Angeles.
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