Browns earning high marks for Jerry Jeudy trade
The deal won’t be official until March 13, but the early returns are favorable after Cleveland lands another wide receiver.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry decided that there was no need to wait for the start of free agency to improve the team as he reportedly worked out a trade on Saturday with the Denver Broncos for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
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Berry and the Browns have been linked to the former first-round pick for a while now, and with the Broncos picking up the pieces from the rubble that was the Russell Wilson experience, Berry was able to land Jeudy for just a fifth- and a sixth-round draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. (So much for the fan fiction that the Browns would have to part with starting cornerback Greg Newsome II to acquire Jeudy.)
As much as everyone loves a trade, they love handing out immediate grades of the trade almost as much, so let’s take a quick run through some of the various grade books while we wait for the trade to become official when the new league year begins on March 13.
Much like when the Browns dealt a fifth-round pick and sixth-round pick swap for Cooper, it’s tough to find fault in such a low-risk deal. Jeudy isn’t the player Cooper is. But he also doesn’t come with the financial risk Cooper did in 2022 given that he’s a one-year rental. If it doesn’t work out, Cleveland can wipe its hands clean of the deal next offseason.
The change in scenery should benefit Jeudy, who will face a lower-pressure environment. This isn’t the team that drafted him with high expectations, nor is it the team that expected Jeudy to become a No. 1 receiver quicker than expected after Courtland Sutton tore his ACL two weeks into the 2020 season.
The trade also signals an understanding by GM Andrew Berry that the Browns’ offense can’t count on the running game to lead the way. It will take some time for Nick Chubb to return from last season’s gruesome knee injury, and when he does, it wouldn’t be fair to immediately give him the keys to the offense.
Cleveland will have to pass the ball to win games, and Watson looked like a quarterback who needed plenty of help when he was on the field in 2023. The Browns’ depth chart was thin behind Cooper, so a high-ceiling player such as Jeudy is a much-needed addition to the receiving room.
