TRADE! Cleveland Browns Acquire Denver Broncos Wide Receiver Jerry Jeudy

The NFL offseason is heating up. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Cleveland Browns are acquiring wide receiver Jerry Jeudy from the Denver Broncos in exchange for 2024 fifth and sixth-round picks.

Trade: Broncos and Browns agreed to a deal today that will send WR Jerry Jeudy to Cleveland in exchange for two draft picks, sources tell ESPN.

Cleveland made a run at Jeudy at last season’s trade deadline. Now the Browns finally will get him once trade is processed this week. pic.twitter.com/G0XlwDXlAr
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2024

Jeudy, the 15th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, was set to play out the fifth-year option of his rookie contract this upcoming season. Instead, the Broncos will spare themselves $12.987 million in 2024 by moving on now.

Jeudy is the latest veteran Bronco to be jettisoned by 2023 head coach hire Sean Payton; the Broncos also recently released quarterback Russell Wilson. Jeudy was similarly disappointing in his four years with the team: Despite his lofty draft pedigree, he never topped 64.8 receiving yards per game in any of his four seasons and never played for an offense that finished better than 19th in points scored.

The Broncos are clearly dismantling their team in order to better match it to Payton's vision, so they're probably grateful to be rid of Jeudy's inflated salary. Still, the Browns are certainly buying low on Jeudy as far as draft compensation goes. He's still only 24 years old, and they previously struck gold on a similar trade when they landed Amari Cooper from the Dallas Cowboys in 2022. Jeudy isn't as accomplished as Cooper was, but he's in a contract year and should be plenty motivated to put his best ball on tape before he hits free agency in 2025.