Could salary cap concerns force a trade for the Cleveland Browns?

For the primary time in years, the Cleveland Browns discover themselves in a state of affairs the place they aren’t within the high three in cap house heading right into a season.  Whereas that makes issues trickier for normal supervisor Andrew Berry, it’s additionally an enormous optimistic as a result of the workforce lastly has some expertise that’s value paying.

The Browns aren’t in an enormous quantity of bother with simply over $20 million of cap house heading into the season, however with a number of massive offers which can be inevitable with Denzel Ward and Baker Mayfield, you might even see a number of strikes within the 2021 offseason that followers disagree with. To not point out, 2021 may very well be the primary season in years the place the cap goes down from the earlier season, largely due to misplaced income from COVID-19.

Ben Axelrod of WKYC-TV believes that Odell Beckham may very well be a star participant that’s traded due to the projected $20 million lower within the 2021 wage cap. And when you might imagine there’s no approach the Browns may discover a commerce associate Beckham, there are a few causes that may very well be advantageous to the Browns.

One, Beckham is beneath contract for 3 extra seasons, and solely has a cap hit of $15 million, which isn’t horrible for a participant of his caliber. Whereas well being is actually a priority, the highest receivers within the league at the moment are getting paid greater than $20 million per 12 months, so the danger/reward may very well be interesting to some groups.

Two, the free company market isn’t that nice for broad receivers this 12 months. Whereas guys like Allen Robinson, Marvin Jones, and JuJu Smith-Schuster can be found, none are true elite NFL gamers. Fundamental legal guidelines of provide and demand inform us {that a} skinny market may simply drive up the market on mediocre expertise. Groups will ask, “Ought to we pay Beckham $15 million or Robinson $18 million?”. Even with the harm historical past, the Browns could also be stunned by the curiosity they get.

Though Beckham has all of the expertise on the planet, the Browns ought to severely take into account a commerce if they’ll discover the correct worth. Beckham may very well be a sneaky draft-day deal if a workforce misses their man at broad receiver and doesn’t wish to overpay in free company.