The Cleveland Browns are among the NFL’s most likely sellers at the trade deadline after a 1-6 start, and they can get off some serious money and add meaningful draft capital if they are ready to part with some higher-end players.
Cleveland already dealt wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills, and after a season-ending Achilles injury to QB Deshaun Watson against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7, the offense seems a logical place to start dealing.
However, it’s the defense that has a handful of players that competitive teams are more likely to want, including three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward who is currently playing on a $100.5 million contract.
Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus on Tuesday, October 22, authored the case for trading Ward to the up-and-coming Washington Commanders.
Ward hasn’t been spectacular in 2024, recording only a 72.2 overall grade. Those perils have mostly been due to problems wrapping up: his 23.7% missed tackle rate is the ninth-highest among qualified cornerbacks. Still, Ward is an asset in coverage, posting a 76.0 coverage grade over the last four seasons while compiling 45 forced incompletions — the seventh-most among qualifying corners in that span.
Despite starting 5-2, the Commanders are in desperate need of defensive — and secondary — help. If Washington wants to make a serious push in Dan Quinn’s first year, giving Cleveland a call about Ward (or Greg Newsome II) doesn’t seem far-fetched.
Browns Roster Must Get Less Expensive, Trading Denzel Ward Would Help
The Browns had the best defense in the league last season in terms of yardage allowed, but have dropped to 13th in that category through seven games in 2024. Cleveland is also 26th in total takeaways with just 5 turnovers forced on the year.
The result of allowing teams to move the ball more effectively and failing to create game-swinging plays on defense has meant a mediocre unit that can’t stand up to the team’s lack of offense. The Browns are dead last in the league in offensive production, with just 253.9 yards gained per contest.
Cleveland will remain a relative salary cap disaster for at least the next two seasons, with Watson soaking up $73 million in space in both 2025 and 2026. As such, the team won’t want to dismantle its defense to an extensive degree, as that side of the football may be all that stands between the franchise and perennial league-worst status across a multiyear stretch.
However, the Browns must get less expensive across the roster and accumulate picks so as to stack the team with younger, cheaper contracts through players acquired via the draft.
Browns Have 2 Solid Cornerbacks on Rookie Deals in Martin Emerson, Cameron Mitchell
Ward’s deal runs through 2027 and has cap hits of between $24.6 million and $30.5 million in each of the next three years.
The team drafted cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. in the third round in 2022, and he still has two years remaining on his $5.5 million rookie deal. While Emerson isn’t as good as Ward, he has considerably more value given how little money he makes in comparison and can fill in on the outside if the team moves on from Ward in the name of financial savings.
Newsome, a former first-round pick, will be a free agent in March and could make sense as trade piece if the Browns don’t want to pay him big money on a multiyear contract to stay.
Cleveland drafted CB Cameron Mitchell, Newsome’s teammate at Northwestern, in the fifth round last season and could look to elevate him alongside Emerson to move on from what will otherwise be an incredibly pricey cornerback pairing of Ward and Newsome for seasons to come.
