Trading Odell Beckham? The draft is coming! Let’s talk Cleveland Browns – cleveland.com

Posted on April 18, 2020

ABOUT ODELL BECKHAM JR.

We’ll start with the denial.

Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta denied the latest rumor of Odell Beckham Jr. being discussed in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings. He called it “completely false.”

I believe him, because the rumored deal made no sense… and the dollars also didn’t fit.

I said this to myself when I heard the rumor of the Browns dealing their wide receiver to the Vikings for future second- and fifth-round picks…

“That’s not right!”

I also thought, “Anyone reporting a trade with those details should be embarrassed because they failed to do the homework.”

Could the Browns and Minnesota have talked about Beckham? Perhaps. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator last season. But it’s hard to believe it was serious.

The last thing Minnesota would want to do is trade for a receiver set to make $14.2 million in 2020, according to overthecap.com.

That’s because the Vikings are a salary-cap mess. At the time the deal was reported, they had only $12.2 million left on their salary cap. It would be impossible to trade Beckham and his salary for only those two draft picks. It’s impossible on the salary cap.

Furthermore, Minnesota has spent much of the off-season dumping big contracts to create a little salary cap breathing room. The only way this could work would be if the Browns took back a player from Minnesota on a hefty contract.

Always follow the money when you hear a rumor involving Beckham.

Any team willing to take him must assume his $14.2-million salary cap figure. Of that, $11 million is guaranteed.

This is the last guaranteed part of the five-year, $90-million deal Beckham signed with the New York Giants in 2018.

Beckham’s contract won’t make it easy for the Browns to trade him, which is probably why they don’t appear to be intent on doing that right now. Things can change, but keep the money in mind.

IS BECKHAM UNHAPPY?

Who knows?

Fox Sports talk show host Colin Cowherd insists “Beckham wants out” of Cleveland.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he heard that from somewhere. From the time the wide receiver was traded to the Browns last spring, there have been whispers of Beckham not wanting to come to Cleveland… and not wanting to stay in Cleveland.

Just following Beckham during the 2019 season, it’s not hard to see his mood swings. One day, he’s good with Cleveland. Another day, something is bothering him.

That’s why I don’t spend a lot of time wondering about Beckham’s latest feelings. I also believe that’s true of the Browns.

DOES HE FIT?

That’s the bigger question for the Browns.

Will Beckham buy into an offense that puts a lot of emphasis on running backs and tight ends? The Browns don’t need another season of “Why isn’t Odell getting the ball enough?”

It was astounding that question kept popping up even when the Browns won.

GM Andrew Berry and Stefanski seem determined to turn down the Diva volume on the team. Instead, the new song features this refrain: “Smart, tough, accountable” on what is expected from the players.

Berry and Stefanski have stressed how new acquisitions such as Jack Conklin, Austin Hooper, Case Keenum, Andrew Billings and others are “good locker room guys.”

Beckham isn’t destructive. But he can be a bit strange.

For now, the Browns new regime is saying all the right things about keeping Beckham.

“I have no reason to believe he doesn’t want to be here,” said DePodesta “Odell’s been very good this off-season. He’s been engaged I know with Kevin (Stefanski). I think he’s excited about the possibilities of what this offensive system can bring for him and we’re excited to have him.”

But the draft is loaded with receivers if the Browns do decide to deal Beckham. More rumors will be flying this week.

ANOTHER JOE SCHOBERT? — Wyoming linebacker Logan Wilson has some of the same attributes as former Browns player Joe Schoebert. AP Photo / Rick ScuteriAP

ABOUT THE BROWNS:

1. The Browns added a lot of role players on defense during free agency. That helps. But this team has a desperate need for playmakers on defense after Myles Garrett.

2. Sheldon Richardson had a good season. He is a good player on the defensive line, but not a game changer. If Denzel Ward can stay healthy, the cornerback from Nordonia is an impact player. Ward missed three games (two concussions) in 2018, four games last season with a hamstring problem.

3. That’s why the Browns must draft Clemson linebacker/safety Isaiah Simmons if he drops to their 10th spot in the draft. It would be worth investigating a trade up for him, assuming the price isn’t high.

4. If they take Simmons, they still need a left tackle. Perhaps those rumors about the Browns being intrigued with Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland are true. The left tackle is projected as a second-rounder, or perhaps low first.

5. In the 2017 draft, the Browns traded their 33rd pick and No. 108 to move up four places to select tight end David Njoku at No. 29. That was the Sashi Brown analytics front office. It’s a move DePodesta meant when he said they have traded up before. Maybe they trade up from No. 41 (second round) to grab Cleveland.

6. Several years ago, when Larry Shyatt was Wyoming’s basketball coach during his first tour of duty (1997), I adopted Wyoming as one of favorite mid-majors. Shyatt is a Cleveland Heights native and now an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. I’ve been following the Cowboys from a distance for a long time. I became more engaged when Shyatt recruited Larry Nance Jr.

7. Why the Wyoming background? I’d love to see the Browns draft Wyoming linebacker Logan Wilson, who sounds a little like former Brown Joe Schobert. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler projects Wilson as a third-rounder, and a special-teams star: “Wilson is a tackling machine due to his break down ability and sound technique in the open field…”

8. Profootballfocus also gives Wilson high-tackling grades and likes him in pass coverage. Because the 6-foot-1, 250-pound middle linebacker is not an elite athlete, he’s projected as a middle-rounder. Sounds like Schobert, who was picked in the fourth round by the Browns in 2016.

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