The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
BROWNS TRADE FOR ODELL BECKHAM JR.
Cleveland trades Giants a first and third round pick along with Peppers for WR
The Browns did it.
They stopped the football world on its axis a day before the league year officially begins by pulling off a stunning trade with the Giants to acquire star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
The trade was first reported by Mike Garafolo of NFL Network and confirmed by a league source shortly after 8 p.m. March 12.
The Browns are sending the Giants their first-round pick in 2019 (No. 17 overall), their second third-round pick, acquired from the Patriots (pick No. 95) in the 2018 trade that sent nose tackle Danny Shelton to New England, and safety Jabrill Peppers.
There was no reaction from the Browns or Giants management because the trade doesn’t become official until 4 p.m. March 13.
The trade makes the Browns instant contenders for the AFC North title in 2019. They finished 7-8-1 last season and are surging when their rival Steelers, Ravens and Bengals seem to be sliding in the other direction. The Ravens have been hit hard in free agency. The Steelers traded AllPro wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Raiders for meager re- turns — a third- and fifth-round draft choice.
Beckham is a three-time Pro Bowl player, but he also has a reputation of being a diva. Two examples: He once said he should be the highest player in the NFL regardless of position. He also blasted Giants coach Pat Shurmur for not calling enough deep routes last season.
But Beckham is also a human highlight reel of spectacular catches. He caught 77 passes for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns in only 12 games last season. He has 390 catches for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns in 59 career games over five seasons.
Beckham was a conundrum for Shurmur, the former Browns coach, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
“I think that the head coach wants to trade him,” Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News said during an interview on Bull and Fox on 92.3 The Fan earlier in the day March 12. “I don’t know if it’s an organizational decision. My sense is that the head coach wouldn’t shed a tear if they traded him.”
Giants general manager David Gettleman, speaking to reporters at the combine in Indianapolis, said, “We didn’t sign Odell to trade him.”
But Gettleman did nothing to silence the rumors that spread like wildfire before the trade was completed.
It is fair to wonder how Browns first-time head coach Freddie Kitchens will handle Beckham. But Beckham is good friends with fellow Browns receiver Jarvis Landry, and Adam Henry, the Browns’ receivers coach, coached Beckham at LSU and with the Giants.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is fired up about the trade. He tweeted a picture of him shaking hands with Beckham. Both are wearing wide smiles.
Former Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas showed his approval on Twitter with champagne and party- hat emojis.
“The moves John Dorsey has been able to make in just a couple of years, just flipping that entire organization, is jaw dropping,” Thomas said on NFL Total Access. “You pair Jarvis Landry, with his buddy, Odell Beckham Jr., — you put the franchise quarterback, Baker Mayfield back there — those guys are going to be together for a long time!”
The Browns’ receiving corps now looks like this: Beckham, Landry, Breshad Perriman (re-signed by the Browns on March 12), Antonio Callaway and Rashard Higgins and Damion Ratley plus tight end David Njoku.
The backfield will be set with Nick Chubb, Duke Johnson and Kareem Hunt once Hunt returns from whatever suspension the NFL dishes out as punishment for Hunt shoving and kicking a woman in a downtown Cleveland hotel in February, 2018, when Hunt was a member of the Chiefs. The Browns signed Hunt on Feb. 9. Hunt was cut by the Chiefs last November when the video surfaced.
The Browns still have eight picks in the draft next month — their own picks 2-6 plus two extra fifths and an extra seventh. One extra fifth is from Jacksonville for the trade that sent running back Carlos Hyde to the Jaguars and one is from New England for the trade sending wide receiver Josh Gordon to the Patriots. The extra seventh is from Jacksonville for the trade sending quarterback Cody Kessler to the Jaguars.