Browns Trade Trent Richardson?!?
What exactly are the Cleveland Browns doing? A talent such as Trent Richardson is a rarity in the NFL. Trading Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a 1st Round Pick realistically does nothing for the franchise. With the addition of Richardson, the Colts become a serious contender – which typically translates to an even worse draft pick – hopefully the brain trust in Cleveland realizes it. FOX Sports Jay Glazer said that the Browns felt Richardson “didn’t fit Chud’s (coach Rob Chudzinski’s) offense.” The new regime also named practice squad QB Brian Hoyer a starter this week, over the normal backup – Jason Campbell. It wouldn’t be out of the question if the team named Tanaka their starting WR for Week 3 while they’re at it. Whoever made the original Major League Movie probably never thought the teams in Cleveland would follow suit in being such a joke for the next 20-30 years. Essentially Cleveland traded a third-pick overall Trent Richardson for a 2014 mid-20’s Draft Pick … idiots.
With the loss of Richardson, the holes are too overwhelming to fill. You are now looking at a team with the following immediate needs:
QB – Current QB Brandon Weeden turns 30 on October 14th. When he was drafted, everyone knew he wasn’t the answer. With WRs that cannot separate or catch when open … and the loss of Richardson, who was really their only source of professional offense – Cleveland will endure some serious offensive issues for years to come.
RB – The current Cleveland RB situation is in shambles. Potential starters are free agent Willis McGahee who is coming off his 2nd major knee surgery and is 32 years old. Other options are Chris Ogbonnaya, Bobby Rainey, and Brandon Jackson until McGahee is able to play.
WR – This was an obvious need area before the team made the trade sending Richardson to Indi for a draft pick. Gordon comes back Week 3, but it doesn’t matter as the season is down the drain. They missed out on all the 2012 big free agents and were only able to land Devone Bess. It’s a need area they have never addressed and even traded out of a draft pick to take Julio Jones, only to draft Phil Taylor.
CB – One side of the field is handled in Joe Haden, but week after week they get exploited by whoever Buster Skrine or Chris Owens is guarding.
The above categories are serious issues and expensive ones at that. It’s mind-boggling, perplexing and any other creative swear word or adjective that you can associate with the situation. If you take into consideration that even when they fill these holes, say at least 5 years down the road, your strong points will be older versions of their once dominant-selves. The only thing I personally can hope for Cleveland fans is revenge … sweet sweet revenge. I truly hope that the fans of Cleveland do not attend another Browns game this entire season. I think that the organization takes advantage of a die-hard fan base and knows that they will always be there – warm or cold, rain or snow, in good and bad. It’s a slap in the face to be that disrespectful to a fan-base that has been so faithful over the years. Whether Richardson fits the new game-plan or not, this will be a deal that haunts them for the remainder of their existence. I hope Cleveland fans push back to the brass and ownership of the Browns and don’t attend another game. Here’s to First Energy Stadium being a ghost-town for the remainder of 2014.
RIP – 9/18/13 – Cleveland lost many Browns Fans today!