Getty Anthony Schwartz of the Cleveland Browns.
Anthony Schwartz seems like a longshot to make the Cleveland Browns roster but he could be a player the team tries to move via trade on draft day.
Drops and injuries have plagued Schwartz early on in his career and he’s yet to produce to the level the Browns were hoping for when they selected him in the third round of the 2021 draft. In all, Schwartz has just 14 catches in two seasons for 186 yards since arriving in Cleveland.
Randy Gurzi of Dawg Pound Daily pitched Schwartz as a potential trade during the draft, with Cleveland being able to get a later-round pick for a player who might not make the roster.
“Teams have overpaid for speed in the past, just as Cleveland did with Schwartz. While he alone wouldn’t net much in a trade, adding him in could be a sweetener for any deal Berry wanted to try and make,” Gurzi wrote. “Without having to surrender a pick of their own to add him, another franchise might decide to swap a package of picks that include a guy capable of taking the top off a defense.”
A change of scenery could do Schwartz good. He was booed during a preseason game last year by a home crowd and clearly hasn’t found a way to be productive. And there is a chance that a team would take a shot and find Schwartz’s sub-4.3 speed as an asset that they feel they can harness.
Browns Added Speed at WR With Marquise Goodwin, Elijah Moore
Not a good sign, at all, for a player like Anthony Schwartz. #Browns
Part of what makes Schwartz more disposable is the fact that the Browns added some speed this offseason by bringing on Elijah Moore and Marquise Goodwin. Both have the ability to get behind a defense and will add a new element to the Browns offense alongside Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones.
Browns’ general manager Andrew Berry admitted speed is one of the attributes he values most when it comes to the wide receiver position.
“Despite maybe how it’s looked at times, I love speed,” Berry said. “We love speed, and there’s probably no general manager or head coach that says they want to be slow on the perimeter necessarily, but when you have an opportunity to add a good player who can really stress the defense with his ability to run, that’s an opportunity that we’re always going to look to take advantage of.”
Browns Lost WR Michael Woods For Year Due to Injury
Surgery was successful. Thank you all (teammates, fans, family, coaches, reporters, and supporters) for the prayers and love. I’m alright, enough pity! Time to work! Preciate yall 💯
-1️⃣2️⃣
It hasn’t all been good news for the Browns on the wide receiver front. The team lost up-and-comer Michael Woods for the year when he ruptured his Achilles during a training session with Deshaun Watson.
Woods isn’t a top-of-the-depth-chart guy but the Browns still had some high hopes for him heading into his second season. The sixth-round pick made the roster out of camp and appeared in 10 games. He finished with five catches for 45 yards, playing on 23% of the offensive snaps. Woods also played a role on special teams.
“Surgery was successful. Thank you all (teammates, fans, family, coaches, reporters, and supporters) for the prayers and love,” Woods wrote after surgery. “I’m alright, enough pity! Time to work! Preciate yall.”
Woods is out of the picture but the Browns are hoping second-year wide receiver David Bell can take a leap. Bell was a third-round pick last season and notched 24 catches for 214 yards.