By Tom Withers And Josh Dubow
AP Sports Writers
The Cleveland Browns returned as an expansion team in 1999. They became a real one Tuesday night.
It only took 20 mostly tortuous years — and one tremendous trade.
ODELL BECKHAM JR.
With a shocking, blockbuster deal for superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the Browns flipped the NFL on its helmet and instantaneously changed their national perception. They’re the talk of the league, and for the first time in forever, it’s for the right reasons.
No longer a punching bag, the Browns are punching back. From hopeless to hope-filled. Finally.
Shortly after the league’s free-agent signing period and its new calendar year opened on Wednesday, the Browns made their acquisition of Beckham from the New York Giants official. It’s a done deal, and it’s starting to sink in for Cleveland’s impassioned and pained fan base, which has been waiting decades for its beloved football team to return to glory.
The Browns acquired Beckham and defensive end Olivier Vernon in exchange for guard Kevin Zeitler, safety Jabrill Peppers, a 2019 first-round pick (No. 17 overall) and a third-rounder (No. 95).
Beckham makes Cleveland cooler, the Browns a must-watch on TV, and in the words of quarterback Baker Mayfield, “dangerous.”
One-handed catches. Prime-time matchups. Sold-out games. The Browns changed overnight.
In landing Beckham, one of the game’s most electrifying players, Cleveland has risen from unimaginable depths in just a year. The Browns were coming off a historic 0-16 season last March, still searching for an elusive franchise quarterback and were prepared to enter the 2018 season with coach Hue Jackson, who had guided them to a 1-31 record over two seasons.
They were the league’s laughingstocks. General manager John Dorsey has turned the tables. He began strategically plotting a run at Beckham in December, and seemingly came out of nowhere to deliver a blindside blow.
“He’s probably if not the one, one or two best receivers in the National Football League,” Dorsey said. “Very rarely do you get a chance to acquire a player of this magnitude. He’s at a relatively young age. He’s got a lot of football left in him. Great hands, great work ethic, committed, competitive, he really wants to be great. And that’s all you can ask for.”
One of the architects of Kansas City’s turnaround, Dorsey has revived Cleveland’s roster. The franchise now boasts Beckham, who will be reunited with receiver Jarvis Landry, his close friend and LSU teammate, Mayfield, Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett and maybe former Chefs running back Kareem Hunt, who still faces a likely league suspension.
The Browns are loaded with young, exciting players who may do more than contend for a playoff spot next season, and could one day take Cleveland to its first Super Bowl.
Some day. Maybe soon.
Moments after news of the trade agreement broke Tuesday, the odds in Las Vegas for the Browns winning the Super Bowl fell from 25 to 1 to 14 to 1.
For Beckham, sometimes dynamic, sometimes diva, Cleveland represents a fresh start and clean slate.
The three-time Pro Bowler, who can turn a short catch into a long gain, gives Mayfield an almost matchless weapon. He has amassed at least 1,000 yards receiving four times, the exception being an injury-shortened 2017 season. Last year, after signing a five-year, $90 million contract extension, he had 77 receptions for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games.
ANTONIO BROWN
Rookie general manager Mike Mayock and coach Jon Gruden had meticulously put together a plan to rebuild the Oakland Raiders with three first-round draft picks and a couple of smart free agent signings when they suddenly got sent in a different direction last week.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were willing to trade the NFL’s most prolific wide receiver for two mid-round draft picks, assuming the Raiders could come to terms on a new contract for Antonio Brown.
“When we discovered we might have a chance for his services, it changed everything,” Mayock said Wednesday after the Raiders officially added Brown as their first big move of the new league year.
The Raiders dealt third- and fifth-round picks in the upcoming draft to the Steelers and gave Brown a new three-year contract worth $50.125 million, a relatively small price to pay for a player who has averaged more than 100 catches and 1,500 yards receiving per season over the last six years.
The trade ended a very messy and very public divorce between Brown and the team that helped mold him from a sixth-round pick into arguably the greatest wide receiver of his generation.
“Pittsburgh will always be my family,” Brown said. “Those guys gave me a chance when I was a 21-year-old kid. People listen to the things that are being said and written. At the end of the day, it’s all about how you make people feel. I think I made people feel really great and really inspired the way they watched me go to work, the way they watched me play. … I know Steeler Nation is having a bad day today, but it’s always love.”
Mayock and Gruden have admired Brown from afar during their time as broadcasters, with both calling him the hardest-working practice player they have ever seen.
The 30-year-old Brown was an All-Pro four straight years from 2014-17 and is the first player ever with at least 100 catches and 1,200 yards receiving in six straight seasons. His 686 catches and 9,145 yards since 2013 are the most ever for any player in a six-year span.
“He’s done everything in his power to be the best he can possibly be on and off the field,” Gruden said. “His body of work is not only impressive, but fun to watch. He’s electrifying after the catch, he’s a great competitor, he wins the 50-50 ball, he’s outstanding in short areas. You have a great imagination as a football coach when you coach a man like this. He can play split end, he can play flanker, he can play in the slot. He can return punts and sell popcorn at halftime. We’re excited about this guy.”
Brown is one of several additions the Raiders have made to start the new league year. They agreed to a four-year, $66 million deal with tackle Trent Brown to bolster the line and a four-year, $42 million contract with safety Lamarcus Joyner during the negotiating period.
They also added another receiver Wednesday, agreeing to a four-year contract with former Chargers deep threat Tyrell Williams, a person familiar with the deal said on condition of anonymity because the contract hasn’t been signed yet.
Williams had 41 catches for 643 yards and five touchdowns last season. He has averaged 16.3 yards per catch for his career, the fifth-highest mark among players with at least 100 catches since he entered as an undrafted free agent out of Western Oregon in 2015.
The additions of Antonio Brown and Williams on the outside and a top pass blocker in Trent Brown should help quarterback Derek Carr regain the form he had when he was one of the better quarterbacks in the league in 2016 before regressing the past two years.
Carr and Brown have already started working out together at a nearby park and are excited to see what they can do on the field.
“It’s refreshing,” said Brown, who clashed with Ben Roethlisberger during the end of his time in Pittsburgh. “I think he’s hungry for success, hungry to turn the organization around, hungry to get on the winning side of things. I’m just hungry for the same things.”
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.