The Cleveland Browns are currently 2-7, tied with multiple teams for the worst record in the NFL.
With the Browns looking like a team that will be excluded from this year’s postseason, Cleveland became sellers at this year’s trade deadline on Tuesday.
Cleveland’s lone deal was with the Detroit Lions as the two franchises swapped picks for defensive end Za’Darius Smith.
While analysts reported before the deal that Cleveland sought a fourth-round draft pick for Smith, the team settled for a 2025 fifth-round selection instead.
Still, ESPN analyst Seth Walder believes the Browns did well in their trade deal with Detroit.
Walder graded every team’s move during the regular season, and the analyst gave the Browns a “B” for the team’s haul in his recent article.
“From Cleveland’s perspective, it needed to offload veterans, and this was fine,” Walder wrote, adding, “Ideally I’d be tempted to strong arm the Lions into paying more knowing how desperate they were for the position, but the reality is there were other equally palatable options that are just as likely to be moved, so the Browns weren’t in a position of major leverage.”
Cleveland is beginning to focus on the 2025 season, adding to their draft pick stockpile to help rebuild the team’s roster with younger players who play on affordable contracts.
The Browns will have multiple salary cap issues to work through in 2025, including what to do with quarterback Deshaun Watson.
After trading for Watson in 2022, the Browns signed the player to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract.
Cleveland has restructured Watson’s deal multiple times in recent years, and the 2025 and 2026 cap space his deal will consume could hinder the Browns’ ability to retain key players.
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