New Browns GM has consistently stated he will be aggressive in seeking to acquire talent for his roster. During his press conference at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine, Berry talked about the one avenue of talent acquisition that gets overlooked: the trade.
With free agency and the draft foremost on everyone’s minds, Berry still found it important to address trading for players. It’s something he’s studied and believes makes sense for the Browns.
“I actually think it’s been pretty robust over the past few years. Especially you’ve seen over the past couple years more higher-end trades, whether it’s Jalen Ramsey or Frank Clark or Khalil Mack,” Berry said, citing three of the more prominent players moved by trade recently. “I actually think the league as a whole is really engaging the trade market probably more aggressively in the last couple years.”
He left out another prominent trade, one which his Browns predecessor, John Dorsey, pulled off a year ago. That trade brought wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns for Jabrill Peppers, a first-round and a third-round pick. The Browns and Giants also swapped right guard Kevin Zeitler for EDGE Olivier Vernon.
So which way does Berry prefer? He kept his options open on that front.
“It really does depend on the situation,” Berry said. “It depends on the skillset of the player, the scarcity of that skillset, the contract, the age. Each individual situation is different. To limit ourselves to just free agency or just trades, that would be foolish from our perspective.”
Among players rumored to be on the trade block: Lions CB Darius Slay, Jaguars CB A.J. Bouye, Bengals OT Cordy Glenn, Panthers OG Trai Turner and more.