Cleveland, OH (92.3 The Fan) - The Cleveland Browns kicked off the new league year by making their four trades official Wednesday.
"We identified certain players we thought would help this organization moving forward who had the qualities we were looking for with regard to do they love football? Are they leaders at their position? Are they guys that are going to be good in the locker room? I thought the three guys in the trades fit everything we were looking for,” general manager John Dorsey said.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor comes over from Buffalo for the 65th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft and he will become the 29th different starting quarterback for the franchise since 1999.
"We view Tyrod as a perfect fit to lead our team," Browns coach Hue Jackson said. "He possesses the qualities we want of a starting quarterback. He’s smart, a leader, and an efficient passer that doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s a winner and has been very productive as a starting quarterback in this league. The expectation is for Tyrod to come in and be our quarterback, get himself acclimated to our offense and help us get to winning as quickly as possible."
Taylor, who has thrown 51 touchdowns against just 16 interceptions the last three seasons combined, became just the sixth quarterback in NFL history to log consecutive seasons of 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards when he cleared the totals in 2015 (3,035 and 568) and 2016 (3,023 and 580). He’s one of just two quarterbacks with at least 8,000 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards since 2015.
"He has the physical abilities to extend the play. He's got more than enough arm talent and he doesn't turn the ball over," Dorsey said. "When you play that quarterback position at a high level like he does, I think that will do nothing but help us moving forward.”
The Browns sent Miami the 123rd pick, originally acquired from Carolina, along with a 2019 sseventh-round pick they had from Pittsburgh for receiver Jarvis Landry.
"Jarvis Landry is obviously one the most productive wide receivers in the National Football League," Jackson said. "It’s really exciting that we had the opportunity to put him on our team. He’s going to bring a fire and competitive energy to our team that will make us better. He’s a playmaker and a difference maker that we expect to make our offense go."
Landry, a three-time Pro Bowler, has totalled 4,038 yards receiving, including a pair of 1,000-yard seasons in 2015 and 2016, to go with 22 touchdowns.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” Dorsey said. “One-hundred plus catches two years, three-time Pro Bowler. Loves the game of football, ultra competitor. You're lucky to get a guy like that on your team. He is a professional. he's got deep passion for the game. I think that will carry over here moving forward.”
Damarious Randall along with the 114th and 150th picks - fourth and fifth rounders respectively, come to Cleveland from Green Bay for quarterback DeShone Kizer and their fourth- and fifth-round picks - Nos. 101 and 138. He's expected to step in at free safety this season freeing up last year's firsrt-round pick Jabrill Peppers to move to strong safety.
"He’s a really good athlete that makes plays on the ball," Jackson said. "He will fill a need for us and we feel he can make a difference for us in our secondary."
The 25-year old started 30 games over three seasons in Green Bay where he picked off 10 passes, including a team-best four in 2017, and broke up 32 passes.
“Damarious is very versatile,” Dorsey said. “I've long admired him when he was playing safety back at Arizona State. He's a first-round pick a couple of years ago, which shows you what his skill set is. He's proven his versatility where he can play corner, he can play safety. I'm glad we got all three of those guys.”
Defensive tackle Danny Shelton was also shipped off to New England along with No. 159 - a fifth-rounder acquired from Kansas City for a 2019 third-round pick.
“When there was an offer from New England and the compensation offered, we felt it would be best to put Danny in a nice situation to help him extend his career but also we have some more assets coming up in the future,” Dorsey said. “In my four weeks here watching [Kizer] play, I could see there was a learning curve, he was getting better and better. In order to move this thing forward and to acquire someone like Randall, I thought it would be a natural move to let him continue to grow and help the Cleveland Browns continue to grow with Randall on the defense.”
The Browns expect to introduce the three at a press conference Thursday.
What's even more impressive, Dorsey kept the most valuable assets in the draft - their top 5 picks - in tact.
“Anytime you have five picks in the top 64, that's wonderful. Any personnel guy will tell you that. The challenge will be to hit on all of these players and get really good players,” Dorsey said. “I think you can really do a good job of building your team with these players. That's not saying we can't hit in the 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s. We're going to do our due diligence. It's the extra ammunition you have with five picks in the top 64, and understanding the draft with the way it's going to work itself out, I think we will get players.”
