A franchise disaffected with its star quarterback? A talented, big-armed thrower on the trade market? A chance for the Cleveland Browns to give up three first-round picks to solve their longstanding QB problem? What could go wrong? Bring on Justin Herbert!
All right, we’ll stop there for a deep breath. The Browns have had their foray into the NFL quarterback trade market with Deshaun Watson and it’s likely they’ll need considerable time before deciding to go that route again. But there has been speculation bouncing around the Cleveland media in recent days about the possibility of the Browns, now that they’ve got some reputable offensive pieces on the roster, eschewing the prospect of gambling on a quarterback in the draft and instead going with a polished product like Herbert in a trade.
Herbert’s Chargers are 0-5, fueling chatter about the possibility that the Chargers might trade him, as long a shot as that might actually be–and as long a shot as the Browns would be to get in the mix.
Browns Could Take Advantage
Most recently, the topic of the Browns eyeing a deal for Herbert, who is on a five-year, $262 million contract in LA, was brought up on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland.
Host Nick Wilson held out hope for a Herbert trade, saying, “My thought would be, do they have to choose between Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert? And my thought would be, that’s how a bad organization thinks. Make it work. Hey, Jim, we pay you a lot of money make it work. Hey Justin, we pay you a lot of money, make it work. Now my great hope is this is a dumb organization and the Browns could slide in and just say, ‘Justin Herbert, you’re gonna love Cleveland at this time of year.’”
Chargers Sticking With Justin Herbert
Now, again, it is hard to imagine the Browns engaging in the idea of selling out future drafts by trading for an expensive and experienced quarterback coming off the heels of the Watson fiasco.
But ESPN’s Adam Schefter said there’s also very little chance the Chargers open up a market on Herbert.
Said Schefter recently on ESPN radio: “If the Chargers were to consider trading Justin Herbert, and I am like, ‘Oh, that is interesting,’ and they were like, ‘Maybe you could get three first-round draft picks for him.’ This team was saying, you know, the Chargers should think about that because they would get three 1s, they have their own 1s, they could start over, they have had Justin Herbert for a while and they haven’t won a playoff game with him. They’re winless this year. Why not start over?
“Someone with the Chargers, let me be clear, to me they said, we have never once brought up the idea or thought about whether we should trade Justin Herbert. Could not have been more decisive. Could not have been more adamant. Could not have been more genuine.”
Browns Trade Floated for $262 Million Star Amid Skepticism