Browns trade for Wyatt Teller, Bills guard, give up 5th- and 6th-rounders in 2020
Updated Aug 29, 9:31 PM
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/08/browns-trade-for-wyatt-teller-bills-guard.htmlCLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns traded for Bills guard Wyatt Teller just hours before their preseason finale tonight against the Lions in an effort to shore up the shaky right guard spot.
They also received a 2021 seventh-round pick from Buffalo and gave up fifth- and sixth-round picks in 2020.
Teller, 24, becomes a top candidate to start on the right side, where he’ll try to replace Eric Kush.
"It gives us some depth at the position,'' Browns GM John Dorsey said at halftime of the game on News 5. "He started seven games in the NFL. He’s a younger guy and he has some upside. I liked him in college and you can’t have enough good football players.''
The position has been an area of concern all offseason and preseason, especially considering 2018 No. 33 overall pick Austin Corbett failed to win the job.
Teller (6-4, 315) was originally drafted by Buffalo in the fifth round of the 2018 draft out of Virginia Tech. He started the Bills’ final seven regular-season games last year at left guard. But the Bills overhauled their offensive line in the offseason, acquiring 11 new bodies in the free agency in the draft to help protect second-year quarterback Josh Allen.
As the preseason wore on, Teller found himself slipping behind Quinton Spain, Spencer Long, and Jon Feliciano on the depth chart. Although he had a solid preseason, speculation out of Buffalo was that Teller might have a hard time surving roster cuts on Saturday.
“You’re never entitled,” Teller told the Buffalo News as the Bills wrapped up mandatory minicamp in June. "You never expect anything, you have to earn every piece of the pie. You would like to think, ‘Hey, they brought me in for a reason.’ But they also brought those guys in for a reason. That’s the name of the game.
“I mean, yeah, I’m young, but I’m starting to get it a little bit that it’s easy to be entitled and to lose that the mindset of staying hungry and attacking each day, because each day is important. Each day is trying to get the best five, trying to find consistency, continuity, stuff like that. Which five work best together? We have great players out there and it’s cool to see everybody working together and new faces and a melting pot.”
On Tuesday, Kush -- who’s been given the first crack at starting at right guard -- was determined to hang onto the job.
“I just do what I’m told,'' he said. "Every day, I come here to practice, work my butt off to try and improve something, do what I’m told and have as much fun as I can while I’m doing it, playing this great game and trying to get better every day.”
He said he was pleased with his tape from the Bucs game.
“I saw a lot good stuff, some great stuff out there and then some stuff to improve on that we were working out there and we were working the day before,'' he said. "We’re going to continue to work on it.”
The Browns currently own their own picks in rounds 1-4 and round 7 of the 2020 draft.
Cleveland also has Arizona’s sixth-round pick (DB Jamar Taylor trade), Buffalo’s seventh-round pick (WR Corey Coleman trade) and a conditional pick from Houston (RB Duke Johnson Jr. trade).
In the 2021 draft, which will be held in Cleveland, the Browns hold their own picks in rounds 1-7 and the Bills’ seventh-round pick from this trade.
Here is a summary of the Browns’ current picks in the 2020 and 2021 NFL drafts.