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Totally speculative op-ed that popped up in my news feed. It's the slow time of year, so we need stuff to talk about.
Read/discuss.
Clem.

As Trade Rumors Swirls Around Aaron Donald, Browns in Position to Pounce


Once you get past the top three players on the Los Angeles Rams, namely Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford, it becomes clear how easy it could be for the bottom to fall out this season. That's because the team mortgaged everything for a Super Bowl and now find themselves looking more like an expansion team than a contender. As a result, if the Rams struggle, Donald becomes a trade candidate ahead of the deadline and the Cleveland Browns could be one of the teams that could make a play for him.

Jason McIntyre of Fox Sports made five bold predictions regarding the NFL this year. Arguably his prediction for the Rams is his safest pick. Meanwhile, his other four predictions are extraordinary. He has the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship and the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl for example.

"I can see them being one of the worst teams in the league, and thus they decide to pull the trigger and trade Aaron Donald, basically their only good defender. Look at the PFF stats for this defense — it is abysmal. I know that they won the Super Bowl going with the big Stafford, Kupp, Donald. But then everything fell apart. They lost Jalen Ramsey, their best cornerback, who basically shut down one side of the field. [They lose] their middle linebacker, Bobby Wagner, one of the best defenders on the team. They lose two of their top three defenders. I think you are in a window where this team … decides to just reboot and move on from Aaron Donald." - Jason McIntyre

This looks more like an inevitability than a bold prediction for exactly the reasons McIntyre lays out. Aaron Donald has an argument to be the best defender in NFL history, but he can't cover the other ten guys. It will take dramatic improvement from the rest of that group to be decent and even though the NFC is clearly the weaker conference, their best hope is a wildcard berth.

They aren't going to beat the San Francisco 49ers for the division crown and the Seattle Seahawks have a far better team as long as their outstanding 2022 draft class doesn't regress with a sophomore slump and Geno Smith can keep playing well.

That doesn't begin to address Matthew Stafford's health or the questionable offensive line protecting him. The Rams are almost certainly going to be bad and they've already unloaded pieces for the sake of building for the future. Aaron Donald is 32 years old. He's not going to be around for the next iteration of the Rams, holds little value to the organization beyond sentimentality.

Yes, he could play his entire career with one team and retire before entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame, something Browns fans are familiar with in the case of Joe Thomas. However, if Doanld wants to play for a contender, the Rams are going to be happy to get as much as possible in return to help to further jumpstart the building process they currently find themselves.

Donald has a $13.5 million base salary for this season. Every game he plays with the Rams will reduce that amount. Everything else in his contract is bonuses the Rams owe. That makes trading him possible and enable the Rams to leverage more in return.

There may be several teams that could add Donald, but the Browns are certainly one of them. They have cap space and flexibility to add more, something they are likely to do anyway with the contract of Myles Garrett. They have picks and potentially even young players if they were so inclined.

Not having a first round pick in 2024 is a potential stumbling block, but they could do what the Rams did themselves, offering picks they will have in the future. Meanwhile, they also have second and third round picks they can package over a few years if necessary.

Donald would be the last piece of a defensive puzzle for the Browns. The organization should still add a veteran such as Shelby Harris or Matthew Ioannidis, but neither would preclude the Browns from adding Donald. It simply makes the Browns that much stronger with Donald.

Donald would have the opportunity to play for a Browns defense that already has Myles Garrett, Za'Darius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson and former Donald teammate Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. He'd also be playing for Jim Schwartz, which caters to defensive linemen.

The biggest hang-up for the Rams might be the fact they would have to go against Donald and the Browns later in the season; week 13 in LA. The Rams wouldn't be going anywhere anyway and their fans would be able to watch Donald again. It would also trade him out of the conference, which is its own appeal to the Rams.

It's one of several reasons it's prudent for the Browns not to throw a ton of money at someone like DeAndre Hopkins simply because he's an available free agent. Donald would do more for the Browns than Hopkins ever could even if the possibility of acquiring him is remote.

The Rams carrying Donald into the season allows the Browns to see how they do in that same span of time. Even as confident they are in Deshaun Watson returning to the franchise quarterback form, actually having games played where he's done it only helps them in their pursuit, if not for themselves than for Donald. Additionally, the Browns hope to avoid catastrophic injuries that would make pursuing Donald moot.

The likelihood of the Browns acquiring Donald is still low at this point, but every game the Browns win and the Rams lose only strengthens their case. But if the Browns are able to keep themselves afloat during the difficult early stretch of their season, both in terms of record and injuries, acquiring Donald might have them not simply a contender, but a favorite to make the Super Bowl.


https://www.si.com/nfl/browns/news/aaron-donald-and-the-browns

I agree. I want the team to be in a sustainable position and not "Superbowl or bust" mode.

Eventually they need to LEARN HOW TO WIELD A WEAPON, INSTEAD OF TRYING TO GRAB AN EVEN OTHER ONE.

Like one man holding four riffles and 3 swords stumbling onto a field about to get his head slaughtered because they don't know how to use any of them, the Browns...
Couldn't DL with Larry O, couldn't keep Sheldon Richardson, weren't happy or able to wield the two Maliks'

Clowney, couldn't even get him on the field because he wasn't happy? then...
the Browns...
couldn't make the most of Togiai, or Perrion, < a lot like Deshone Kixer the @uarterback from 20I6+ they waited too long to look for a Perion and then wonder why he doesn't appear exactly = to what one gets in a top ten overall pick

then,
It's the wrong time of year, there is a March and april for a reason,
the 2023 Browns' characature picked up 4 riffles and 3 swords on the DL in the form of Dalvin, Hearst, the Hill guy?, OKO, Siaki,
and then even what's his name Smith.

I read that article, on Donald, skimmed it yesterday, I think it's bull, its' Barbara Streisand , < not that whether it'll actually happen, b/c
since Haslam bought the team,
who knows WHAT the plan is or was for the Browns, it appears to change every minute, hour, or 24 hours
but bull that it would in ANY WAY make the Browns better or more competitive,

because, like ONE DRIVER, TRYING TO DRIVE TWO CARs AT THE sAME TIME THIs TEAM CAN'T MAKE UP IT's flipping MIND. and that driver ain't going to win a race of ANY kind.

AND it's aggravating,
like the many I2's of things the Browns do every year that are aggravating to their fans and make their team worse

trading for Donald after July first would be SOOOOO ON BRAND. way to go Haslam, DOH.

Would seem we could remember the National media's mindset is continually;
that the Browns exist, ..only exist..
to help other NFL franchises' avoid the conse@uences of those franchises' poor planning,
so
"dump all your problems on the Browns" always seems like a logical and plausible outcome to the national media, because of their mindset.

from the article final line.
>>acquiring Donald might have them not simply a contender, but a favorite to make the Super Bowl.<<

Please. The Browns are not even a favorite to win their own div. or get an afc wildcard berth. Period.

and why?
at least one Half of it is the coach can't coach correctly during the games, and another half is they can't get improvement out of any player, sustainable over time.

Agreed. And 99% of the time, I bet they know it is a load of crap too and produced in a way to spur other story lines down the way. It's content that sells, it's churned out every year, and people routinely lap it up.

We would have to start with one of our Cb's. Probably Newsome since he was a 1st round pick and is still on his rookie contract. I would be willing to give up Ward but we would have to pick up most of his contract. Even with this, we still probably don't have enough trade capital to get Darnold.

That and Donald has a no trade clause.

j/c:


This is nothing more than a speculation piece (which is fine) and focuses on the trade deadline for this deal.

Over the past 3 seasons the Browns have gone from 11-5 to 8-9 to 7-10. So for everyone's sake I hope you're right or this entire thing may be built from the ground up..... again.

The reason Berry made the trade for Watson was to win the division and get to the SB this year. In other words, the Browns need to go all out, like the Rams did, and get to the SB and win it now! Yes, they should try and get Aaron Donald.

I agree. One and done isn't the way to go. As you mentioned earlier, many factors go in to winning a Superbowl and many also go in to disrupting the plan. You can't always control those factors.

I just look in our division. The Steelers haven't won Superbowls by looking at it as a one and done deal. They did it by consistently winning 10-11 games a season, make the playoffs and take their chances from there.

We have a good core of players. Our FO seems to have a grasp on managing the cap. We are also in a position of now being able to make some safer draft choices rather than seeking lightening in a bottle. That lightening being looking for a QB. I know some aren't convinced or still hold some grudge, but that will prove out this year. Watson hasn't forgotten how to play football or reached the age of natural decline.

To be fair, we've obliged more than enough times for this to be convenient mindset.

We've also claimed they were wrong so many times when they were right.

j/c

I think we will still sign a DT type guy during training camp. It's still a position of need. I also doubt we'll make it a big name