Earlier tonight, the NFL world was shocked again by another trade. This time, Odell Beckham Jr. was moved to Cleveland. In exchange, the Browns sent a first, a third, and S Jabril Peppers back. OBJ teams up with his college teammate, Jarvis Landry, and friend Baker Mayfield.
In the span of three days, we’ve seen the leagues top two WRs (OBJ and Antonio Brown) be move from their respective franchises. How often do franchise players change teams? Not very often. This says a lot about them and the teams they left. Both the Steelers and Giants were upset with the receivers’ behavior. Both were willing to take less value (the Steelers more so than the Giants) to move on from the two best WRs in football.
What does this trade mean for the Giants?
New York is now left without any game-changing talent at WR. Currently, they have Sterling Shepard and Corey Coleman as the only WRs who have done anything before. They do have free agents who are still out there including Russell Shepard, Benny Fowler, and Cody Latimer.
The rebuild has pretty much begun for the G-Men. They just need to jump full in and grab a QB. GM Dave Gettleman has moved on from Landon Collins and Odell Beckham Jr, two young players to build their program around. With Saquon Barkley being the only remaining franchise cornerstone, the Giants need to capitalize on his contract and begin to build. Eli Manning isn’t the future. I’m not sure if Dwayne Haskins is the future either, but they do have the assets to trade up and grab Kyler Murray if they want.
They also snagged Jabril Peppers in this trade, and he’s no slouch. Peppers was taken with the 25th pick in the 2017 NFL draft. At Michigan, he was highly-touted for his athleticism and versatility. In the NFL, Peppers has played at both safety positions and will have the opportunity to replace Landon Collins as well as play returner.
What about the Browns?
What John Dorsey has done in his short time in Cleveland should be applauded. In one season, he’s overhauled the team, fired the HC, and brought in his own guys. Dorsey drafted Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward, Nick Chubb, and Antonio Callaway last season. All of those guys were productive in their rookie season and will build on that next year. He also traded for Jarvis Landry, to bring a legitimate number one receiver for Mayfield.
Now, with an offense that totes Mayfield, Chubb, Kareem Hunt (potentially), Beckham Jr, Landry, Callaway, and Njoku they’re set to be one of the most high-powered groups in the NFL. As good as they are on offense, they may be even better on defense. On that side of the ball, you’ll see Myles Garrett (2018 Second-Team All-Pro), Larry Ogunjobi, Sheldon Richardson (2013 Defensive Rookie of the Year), Christian Kirksey, and Denzel Ward (2018 Pro-Bowl).
In a division that’s been known to be tough and physical, it’ll be hard for the Browns to claw their way to the top. As of right now, however, they appear to be the most well-rounded team in the AFC North.
The Ravens have a great defense but have now lost CJ Mosley, Terrell Suggs, and Eric Weddle. Their offense was below-average last season, and now they’ve lost their top two WRs in John Brown and Michael Crabtree.
Pittsburgh has lost Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and Jesse James. They still have some pieces with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Eli Rogers, and James Connor. However, who knows what these other offensive weapons will look like without AB.
Cincinnati is a mess. They have Joe Mixon and A.J. Green. Beyond that? There’s not much hope, other than that Marvin Lewis was the problem.
If I were a betting man (and I am), I’d pick the Browns to be contending for a Super Bowl by the end of next season. Mayfield, with a year under his belt, and Odell Beckham Jr, should be able to propel the Browns to the top of AFC North. We know it’s tough to win that division. There’s a new winner almost every year. It’ll be nice to hear the Browns jokes go away, while Baker and company bring an AFC North title home for the Dawg Pound.