The Browns Trade A QB, Receive A QB, And Still Need A QB

The Cleveland Browns are making moves, in the same way that a dead squid writhes after being covered in soy sauce. New GM John Dorsey pulled off three whole trades today, two of them involving quarterbacks, and neither of them involving A.J. McCarron.

Cleveland dipped into its stockpile of draft picks for two of the moves. The Browns first traded for franchise-tagged Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry and now plan to work out a new deal with him. What they gave up was stunningly reasonable:

A couple hours later, Cleveland traded a third-round pick for Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor:

Taylor has one year left on his contract, and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be getting the same type of security as Landry—Adam Schefter refers to him as a “bridge QB” for whomever the team drafts.

Taylor won’t be competing with underwhelming second-year QB DeShone Kizer for playing time, because he’s gone. Cleveland has already given up on the former Notre Dame player and included him in a trade for Packers defensive back Damarious Randall, who also has one year left on his contract:

These moves ... aren’t bad? There’s a lot to be done for a team that went 0-16 last season, anyway. The prospect of Landry, Josh Gordon, and Corey Coleman catching passes from Taylor is pretty appealing, provided that the offensive line can keep him from getting smushed into the grass. The Browns can use their first and fourth overall draft picks to remedy the other parts—including maybe the quarterback who’s supposed to succeed Tyrod.