With a 2-7 record, the Cleveland Browns have been active as sellers in this year’s trade market.
Cleveland’s opportunity to make more deals before the NFL trade deadline – set for later today – has been to acquire draft capital for the team’s rebuild next season.
The Browns did move one player, sending Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round selection to the Detroit Lions for the team’s 2025 fifth-round pick and their 2026 sixth-round choice.
Will the Browns strike another deal before the trade deadline occurs?
Cleveland will most likely not make any further moves, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler revealed today on X.
“The Browns are most likely done making moves at the deadline, I’m told,” Fowler wrote, adding, “Had talks but nothing else came together save Za’Darius Smith deal.”
The #Browns are most likely done making moves at the deadline, I’m told. Had talks but nothing else came together save Za’Darius Smith deal.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) November 5, 2024
The Browns now have nine picks for next season, including their first-round selection for the first time since the 2021 NFL Draft.
In 2022, Cleveland sent their next three first-round draft picks (2022 – 2024) and three other draft selections to the Houston Texans to acquire quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Watson’s impact extends beyond the reduced draft picks for the Browns.
Cleveland signed the quarterback to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract that the team has restructured twice over the past two years.
That restructured deal has pushed his salary cap hit to 2025 and 2026, a time when the Browns could have over $120 million in dead cap space if the Browns move on from him after June 1, 2025.
Cleveland’s reason to acquire draft capital relies on rookies possessing salaries that are cap-friendly for the Browns to allow the team to retain Watson while moving on from him at the same time.
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