In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Cleveland Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta slammed the recent rumors of the team trying to trade wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as “completely false”.
DePodesta minced no words. It was the first question asked of him and DePodesta was clearly bothered by the insinuation the team would have any interest in moving on from the talented wideout.
“In short, I will just say it was completely false,” DePodesta stated. “It is frustrating a little bit, obviously. I think it is pretty clear what we are trying to build at this point. We have done an awful lot in free agency. We are excited about what we have a chance to do in the draft, and we are really building around a core of players that we think have a chance to be a championship-caliber core.
The idea that we would take away from that core at this moment just does not make a whole lot of sense and is really not something that we are exploring at all. It is completely false.”
A later follow-up about Beckham met with the same sort of indignant response towards any notion the team is unhappy with Beckham or is trying to move on from the enigmatic WR after just one season.
“I have no reason to believe he doesn’t want to be here. Odell has been very good this offseason. He has been engaged with (head coach Kevin Stefanski). I think he is excited about the possibilities of what this offensive system could bring for him, and we are excited to have him.”
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