The Cleveland Browns have reached an interesting crossroads with a few of their highest-profile and fan-favorite players this offseason. Most notably, they traded away Myles Garrett, sending the All-Pro defensive end to the Los Angeles Rams in part because they received a good deal in return but also because of a disconnect with new head coach Todd Monken.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders is competing to become the Browns’ starting quarterback this season, but if he can’t beat out Deshaun Watson for the job, the polarizing second-year pro could be traded as well. The Browns may want to avoid having Sanders as the backup in that scenario.
In addition, Denzel Ward not only restructured his contract, but the cornerback has also been repeatedly mentioned in trade rumors. It is thought that if the Browns do not believe they are contenders this season, they should test the market to see what they can get for the player who was once the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.
However, now that Ward has fallen down that salary list, insider Mary Kay Cabot is suggesting that rather than trade him away, the Browns should give him a raise to reward him for his loyalty and to keep him around as a veteran presence.
“I think that [Denzel Ward] deserves a raise now that he has fallen down to ninth. And if that’s something that he wants and they want to keep him happy, especially in the wake of the Myles Garrett trade, that could be a place where you throw a little bit of money and show him how much you appreciate him. It seems to me that he’s still playing his best ball as well, so he still has plenty left in the tank. He’s somebody that I would still invest in. Now that you don’t have Joel [Bitonio] and Myles, he is somebody that you might want to reward a little bit,” Cabot said.
Ward, who signed a five-year, $100.5 million contract extension in 2022, was a noticeable absence from voluntary workouts this spring, as was his right. But he also was a very limited participant in the final mandatory minicamp, which some observers perceived as a certain level of unhappiness on his part.
The 29-year-old was said to be dealing with a minor injury, and the Ohio native has expressed his desire to stay with the team, so that was perhaps much ado about nothing. But as fans found out with Garrett, when there is so much talk about a possible trade, it usually means that something is brewing.
Even though Ward has made the Pro Bowl the past three seasons, Cleveland may be better served seeing what they can get for him and using those resources to enhance this transition phase, rather than giving him another big contract.
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