With about half the league in a salary cap crunch, I was curious if anyone had any trade targets they would like to go after.
With the guaranteed monies usually falling off in a trade, it would be a useful tool to insure salary cap flexibility as we move toward extending a few guys in the next couple years.

The Saints may have no choice but to move on from a few guys (even young ones). Marshon Lattimore would be a coup, but would cost at least a day 2 pick and is playing on his 5th year option.

Similarly, the Eagles may have no choice but to trade Derek Barnett on his 5th year (though he'd be lucky to fetch a 5th rounder with his cap hit vs. production)

Do we call the Chiefs about Tyrann Mathieu?

Maybe get a solid young LBer and "help" out Raider nation by trading for Nick Kwiatkoski?

Things are pretty tight in Minnesota. A pick to take an almost 32 year old Harrison Smith?

Heck, things are even tight in Buffalo and they have a couple good safeties.

I wouldn't mind taking a swing at Micheal Brockers from the Rams and their cap purgatory once the Stafford trade is complete (in the event that we don't extend Richardson).

You get the idea. Anyone have any trade targets they would be interested in pursuing? Obviously keeping it to the cap crunched teams. It's all in jest anyway.

There has already been Marshon Lattimore rumors.

I think there are going to be a ton of trades this off-season with teams getting crushed by the cap not growing. There will definitely be value out there.

I'd be calling the Falcons about Deion Jones for sure. Harrison Smith could probably be had for pretty cheap.

j/c - If its no more than mid to latter rounds, I'm keen. To keep under the cap, we have to build on a nucleus of drafted players. The draft is such a crapshoot anyway, you need to build depth and hit on some picks via the most sustainable path.

Saying that, if we can get a legit starting CB for one of the 3s and he has at least 3 great years left, I'd make that move.

This is why the FO get paid the big bucks. It's hard to find the right balance.

I'd also reckon there will be quite a few cap casualties hitting the waiver wire. We've proven to be active and shrewd there.

Didn't Tyrann Mathieu just have a lackluster game in the Super Bowl. maybe Just Say No.

That would be a "blue chip" signing or deal..BUT, I see no way the Saints make a deal that includes Lattimore.

No doubt the wink-wink, nod-nod deal that Brees made with them and that new "contract" helped them a ton, but they still have forever to go to be able to field a team.

It's hard to speculate on trades. The draft is hard enough and we know who is going to be available in the draft.

With potential trades, we don't have a clue what other FO groups are thinking about players on their roster.

Have them throw in Kamara while we are dreaming. This could be a real hard market for buyers and for sellers. Should be interesting to watch. I would like Watt.

Heck, I thought it was easier to speculate on trades this year than the draft.

We know who's in cap purgatory and which players they will likely look to move on from to create needed space. Buffalo has a few ways they could go and maybe not Michael Brockers, but the Rams are so wild with their cap strategy and player contracts, no one will ever know.

The other teams would most definitely listen. They all only have a few guys they could reasonably trade as is to create solid cap relief while not taking on absurd amounts of dead money from a trade.

I do kind of feel bad for the Falcons.

They signed an edge rusher who played next to Aaron Donald to an absurd contract last year and 10.7 of his ridiculous 18.5 million dollar cap hit is already guaranteed. Dante Fowler's contract is almost Alshon Jeffrey bad. Makes me curious how much Leonard Floyd is going to now be paid

Unfortunately, Deion Jones can't realistically be traded until after the June 1st cut off. As far as I know, there is no way to designate a trade a post June 1st move like you can with released players.

It might be a good year for trades with the lower cap and some teams in cap trouble. If we like a certain player and his team is in cap trouble they may be more willing to deal him not to mention he may not cost us as much in compensation. Our FO knows better than I who these players are and I'm sure they are doing their homework.

Who all is on the trading block?

We know a few. We know all the players available for the draft...at least the top 200 or so.

I am not putting down the talk, I just don't see how it can be fruitful until at least a few more 'rumors' start to surface.

Sooner or later these teams in cap trouble will start to float trial balloons once they know exactly how much cash they need to cut.

With the possibility of restructuring contracts and which way they will turn to get under the cap, as you said, other than a very few we have no way of knowing who will be on the trading block.

The reality is that almost anyone and everyone is available, for a price... but, realistically, likely only the older guys with massive cap hits are actually going to be getting moved.

Teams aren't stupid; they will hang onto the younger talent all they can for now. They aren't all just going to start jettisoning all of their best players. They're going to start with the ones they think they can replace the easiest with the least amount of drop-off. Well, the better FO's will.... teams like the Rams and Texans will just throw dice to see who goes.

Any of these players that are traded for will ALL have a prohibitive salary/cap hit... that's why they will be available. It should make for a bit of a buyer's market because the number of teams looking to buy will be small and the number of teams looking to get something for guy's they will otherwise be forced to release will be pretty big. So... I'm betting we will see some fairly recognizable names traded for what seems like peanuts.

I've read and heard talk that OBJ is on the trade block. I think it's more than just a rumor. We could trade him and then draft a WR. I would ask for a 1st but settle for a 2 this year and next. Thoughts?

I think it's just the talking heads filling otherwise empty airwaves. While I still think a healthy OBJ would be a boon to this offense, even if the FO doesn't think so we're not going to get good return on that trade right now.

I think if we're looking to move him, then we at least wait until he's proven to be fully healthy.

Trading OBJ is foolish.

Probably the earliest would be the trade deadline in late October so he can show he's over the injury. I'd like to keep him and work him into our O. He still commands a lot of attention from the other teams D.

Going out on a limb here.
I don't like JJ (whichever one was from the Texans) Watt, and don't want him on the Browns.
Now the one brother that went to the steelers maybe, but the one from the Texans, (I can't remember their names from memory), I think looks like a liability in contain, and the run game.

WTH, eh, I remember coming out against liking Myles Garret as a draft pick for the Browns, for the same reasons ahh I'm such a flake, carry on.

I still don't like JJ Watt. (32 ain't 30)

OBJ is someone defensive coordinators have to account for. There is a massive advantage to that beyond a stat sheet.

Chubb may be the only other guy we have that commands that. These type of guys go for a premium for a reason. Why sell when the market is down? For an early draft pick in a year where hardly anyone played? It doesn't add up.

TL, stop trying to bait the younglings into an argument.

JC ... Why would any team give us anything worth a damn for a WR who's rehabbing an ACL? No one knows if he'll even be a top 30 WR when he returns, much less a top 5.

" Hey Jon Gruden, How the heck you liking it out there in Las Vegas, Wouldn't you like to open up that brand new stadium with some real flair?"

( Personally I think OBJ is a much too powerful threat and force to score to let get away, and-... half the time he was playing I wanted him benched. He helps the running game.)

I agree with others that this is just the TV & radio bobble heads manufacturing things to talk about. OBJ is a household name and one that they have created an aura of drama around (he has created almost none of that), so it makes it quite easy for them to dip into the bag and pull him out to get things going in the absence of actual real news.

Unless some team is so foolish as to give us a 1st rounder plus more before April and loooong before he is healed and rehabbed, I see zero chance of us moving him before the trade deadline, and then, I see zero chance of us moving him because by then he will be an integral part of the offense. By then, everyone on the offense will just inherently KNOW the offense on that second-nature level, and know it to the degree that everyone will even know everyone else's job without having to think about it. Guys will just be where they need to be and the QB will just know where they're going to be before they're there; that's what happens when you get to keep a system more than one year. OBJ and his athleticism - if he retains it post-injury - will open up this offense even more.

I agree with the healthy part, but in the grand scheme, if we are in the market to trade for players, we are probably open to trading nearly anybody on the roster.

We have some untouchables on the roster, but I don't think any receiver on the roster is one of them.

Generally, I agree.
I do think that we'd trade any WR, but we're not going to give them away, and we're not going to create holes in the roster without getting a *really* good deal in return.... at which point, what team is going to give up what we want?

I think the divide between "compensation we require" and "what teams will give up" is too great right now. OBJ would be the only WR of ours that I could see any team even wanting to trade for and his injury means we aren't getting the premium value before he gets back on the field, but I don't see us trading him for below the premium unless we feel we *know* he isn't going to recover back to his is old self.

I completely agree with you and Ballpeen, in general. I do wonder, though... if there's hesitance to disrupt this offense by shipping someone out. We seem to finally have this thing fixed, it would really be a bummer to suffer a setback there because we wanted to pick up an extra 4th or something stupid like that for trading a Higgins (just an example).

I think the only one we’d ship out would be OBJ if the compensation was good enough.

It could be argued that having him on the roster disrupts our chemistry too (though, having his playmaking ability was sorely missed at times too)

I'd wager that the only people that would argue this are outside the team.

While I still disagree, I don't fault people for thinking that anymore. I do think it's coincidence, but our offense did finally click into place shortly after OBJ went down.

I've kinda shifted my own opinion such that I'll be watching closely when OBJ gets healthy and back on the field for any signs of our offense going backward.

haha unless you’re Higgins

CB STEPHON GILMORE → CLEVELAND BROWNS FOR A 2021 3RD (#89), 2022 6TH
Patriots Cap Implications: $8.921 million in dead money, $7.344 million in cap savings

Browns Cap Implications: One-year, $7,343,750, $0 in total guarantees

Before the 2020 season, the Patriots gave Gilmore a $5 million raise, potentially signaling that he is not pleased with his current contract and would like an extension before playing out the final season of his five-year deal signed in 2017. Gilmore is 31 years old at a position known for sharp declines in play, so the Patriots still may not be interested in doling out a new deal, even though they’re flush with cap space.

New England’s defense fell off a cliff in 2020 — in part because Gilmore missed five contests — but the team needs to address the quarterback position and has one of the worst receiving groups in the NFL. Ultimately, a trade may be the best route for both parties, as Gilmore can look to sign a short-term extension and make a Super Bowl run before he calls it a career.

Cleveland used the No. 4 overall pick in 2018 on outside cornerback Denzel Ward and followed that up by using a second-round pick on outside cornerback Greedy Williams in 2019, but as Browns general manager Andrew Berry said himself in his end-of-season press conference, “You can never have too many good corners.’' Both guys have consistently missed time in their NFL careers, and Williams dealt with nerve damage in his shoulder throughout 2020, so perhaps there’s a need to address wide corner further.

Working against this move is the fact that all three players are very much outside cornerbacks. Gilmore probably has little interest in moving to the slot full-time, but he’s been downright dominant on the inside. Among all cornerbacks with at least 200 snaps in the slot since 2018, Gilmore’s 82.5 coverage grade ranks sixth. His 54.5% completion percentage allowed ranks third, and his 12.7% forced incompletion rate ranks tied for fourth.

Perhaps Cleveland can convince Gilmore to play outside in base personnel and move inside when in nickel, still paying him what he wants and potentially avoiding a Darrelle Revis situation, where the wheels just absolutely fell off in his final seasons.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-10-trades-t...on-carson-wentz

Makes some sense.

We have two 3rd round picks and two 4th round picks. We are at the point where quantity of drafted players isn't a primary consideration.

It might be time to use some of those picks to either trade for a player or two, or use those picks to move up in the draft.

I still wouldn't mind moving down some to gain for next year, but we have flexibility to do most anything we want.

I could see us moving down out of round 1 to gain another 2nd this year and maybe a 3rd for next year.

I could also see us moving up in round one.

As a rule, I don't think we should chase just any and all aging-vets. That said, I do think this FO should act as if Greedy doesn't exist. Him and Ward together doesn't even result in a starting CB that can stay healthy for a whole season.

You can never have enough good CBs, and we don't have a single good CB that we can rely on to stay healthy.

I don't want Gilmore, he's not worth the money and the draft capital. Last year he graded out as one of his worst seasons ever, his coverage grade was below average allowing a passing rating of 96.7 he also missed 8 tackles,a career high for him in a season that he played his least amount of snaps.

I would hope Jarvis Landry is untouchable. That man WANTS it. He plays with intensity! He is my favorite Brown right now. I would be very upset if they traded OBJ unless they got one HELL of a deal, but I would have a stroke if they got rid of Landry.

I don't disagree from a fan standpoint. Even from a coaching standpoint, he brings everything a coach could want.

He still isn't untouchable, he isn't that good.

That said, based on many of the qualities you mentioned, I doubt he is going anywhere, anytime soon, so rest easy.

So in otherwords, 'Peen, you have no idea (or perhaps even care) about which direction we are going.... ,

We do seem to have more options in the draft this year (not getting a blue-chip prospect regardless of what we do).

So, yeah, using the extra 4th rounder or later picks for relatively minor moves (positioning moves) seems likely. I guess using a 4th rounder to move up like 4 spots in the 1st still qualifies as a trade up, but it's not the trade up most people talk about. Or for that matter trading back a few spots for 2022 draft capital.
I would be surprised if we made any big moves though.

I would stay at #26. We can now afford to let the draft come to us. I wouldn't move down unless we know we can get the player we are targeting with that pick and we get another 2nd round pick. I would not move up. There are a lot of good players we can use at #26.

With the moneyball philosophy we don't need blue chip players because we are looking for overlooked blue collar guys with certain niche strong skills vs the more complete players imho. I think outside the first round our last 2-3 drafts have trended this way and the FO seems to be getting better at it. Last year I didn't bother with any pre draft research mostly because I was mad at how poorly we played under Freddie. I feel like they more or less nailed the draft last year and should do well again this year using the same system. So I'll worry about it on draft day and just be the fan.

Hey, that's my story and I'm St-St-Sticking to it.

In the end, none of us know what we might do. I can see solid arguments both ways. As soon as I think I settle one one direction, I can talk myself or be talked in to the other.

I suppose it is like flipping a coin.

I wouldn't be too miffed if the FO largely punted the draft until next year (in the name of gathering additional assets in a draft year where we'll be able to better gather info). The name of the game for Depo and Berry is data, and this year that will be limited.

With the cap crunch, another clever use of draft capital could be to leverage it in FA. I would be on board with this so long as we're getting talented young players and at a relative bargain (even if a contract situation is looming).

I don't like a tradeup back into the 1st round. Too expensive, and I don't think it's this FO's MO anyway. More second and third round picks sound nice, though.

......or whoever has the least 'cloudy' crystal ball. No doubt that the draft this year will produce some unique difficulties (and opportunities).

j/c...

We will be getting some answers after FA signings

I was wondering though...can Gilmore play FS???

this is def. not the year to trade up.. too much unknown and very little data with Covid really screwing with the season in CFB. This would however be a year to trade picks for known players or acquire picks for next year

The point Oober and yourself are very sound takes.

I am not sure we are all that void of data, but no doubt it will end up being some with no combine and interviews...at least in person.

I'm just looking forward to us signing.

Sherman (to play FS)
Lattimore (back home and joining Ward)
JJ Watt completing the DL

then the draft

I'll agree on Lattimore.

I don't think Lattimore will get cut loose.

They are going to unload as much older, expensive talent as they can before they start unloading the inexpensive young guys that produce.

Honestly, they are going to have to dump so much, they really should just rip the bandaid off and go into tank-mode. I get that Brees might not retire, but they literally have no ability to hold together enough of a roster for him to make another serious run at things.

I don't think so either, but I didn't want to totally disagree with Eo.

I would absolutely love it if we could bring him here, and if Greedy ever recovers, that would make for one sick-good secondary for a long, long time.... but, I think the reality is that it just isn't going to happen.