Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 11/11/26: Standing Pat

CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!

THE DAILY BLOVIATION

I suppose this trade deadline stuff is pretty simple. If your team is doing well and has aggressive post-season aspirations, you’re a “buyer” looking for opportunities to go over the top. If your team is struggling, out of the playoff picture and needs an influx of young talent, then you’ve got an eye on draft picks and you’re a “seller”.

So, what if you’re 5-4 and seemingly fading as an early run of clutch play and good fortune comes back to the mean? Well, then, logically, you’re neither a buyer nor a seller, and you’re likely to stand pat. Which is exactly what the Browns did.

For most of Andrew Berry's time in Cleveland, there have been yard sales in Berea. Amari Cooper went out the door. So did Za'Darius Smith, Joe Flacco and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, all for draft capital. This year, at 5-4, drafting showing signs of paying off, and a game out of a wild-card spot, there was no sale. There was also no purchase.

It wasn't for lack of dialing. The Browns made no trades despite Berry working the phones, as Lane Adkins reported in Rumor Central late Tuesday: the front office worked the phones right up to the deadline, and the Browns "had gotten within the ballpark, but were unable to finalize any deals." What's left now is the street free agent pool.

Lane's read on the week is the most useful thing I saw. At 5-3, the Browns were "open and receptive." At 5-4, after two straight losses, they slowed way down. What they were offering all along was Day 3 picks and spare parts. As Lane told a member in Ask the Insiders, "teams have been more willing to deal draft capital than the Browns have to date."

That's the whole story right there. The Browns showed up to the table with fifth-round picks, and the table wanted seconds.

If you want to know what "seconds" looks like, look at the rest of Tuesday's transactions. The Jaguars sent a 2027 first and a 2029 second to Philadelphia for defensive tackle Jordan Davis, then sent a 2027 second and a 2028 fifth to Atlanta for safety Jessie Bates. The Bills gave Tennessee a second for safety Amani Hooker. Kansas City paid a fourth and a fifth for Josh Downs. Jacksonville is pushing all its chips in. Good for them, I guess. They also happen to be a serious contender, and the Browns' playoff odds, per ESPN Analytics, sit at 9.6 percent.

I don't hand out second-round picks at 9.6 percent. Neither should you.

Here's where I'll break ranks a little. Harold Fannin Jr. has been a one-man tight end room for nine weeks, and I'd have paid a fourth for a serviceable plus anything at that position. I get why they didn't. I'd still have done it.

To be fair, the Browns acquired a tight end Tuesday. They signed Zaire Mitchell-Paden to the practice squad, along with punter Wes Pahl, and released TE John FitzPatrick and DT Eric Johnson II. Mitchell-Paden was a Browns practice-squad guy in 2022 and 2023, and he spent most of this season on the Texans' practice squad, which is a nice coincidence with Houston coming to town Sunday. Not exactly LaPorta. But he knows the Texans' playbook, so maybe ask him a few questions over lunch.

BUT THE FUN PART IS NOW: The silver lining of a quiet deadline is that the season is still live. Win Sunday and ESPN pushes those odds to 24.3 percent. Vegas has the Browns as 4.5-point home underdogs to Houston. Daniel Oyefusi also notes the Browns haven't allowed a 300-yard passer in 54 straight games, the longest active streak in the league, while C.J. Stroud has four 300-yard games this year. Something has to give.

Then comes the bye, and then the Raiders on Nov. 29, who'll now be starting No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza at Huntington Bank Field. Four home games in that stretch. If this team is going to make its own deadline move, that's where it happens.

ANGRY RUNS: Finally, Harold Fannin Jr. won Good Morning Football's Week 9 Angry Runs for the overtime touchdown, with Kyle Brandt declaring the Canton native was "running through Saints more than 1997 Val Kilmer." Fannin leads the team with four receiving touchdowns and 275 yards after the catch. The Browns couldn't find him any help at the deadline. Based on that run, he may not have noticed.

Happy Veterans Day to all who served, and thank you.

Have a good one! GO BROWNS!