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Browns could be tempted to trade
Posted: Thursday April 06, 2000 04:10 PM
It's a little more than a week before the draft, and the Cleveland Browns have three definite options: Ransom the top overall pick, select defensive end Courtney Brown, or pick linebacker LaVar Arrington. I can tell you they're strongly considering the latter two options, but would love to be able to consider a trade. The Browns could be tempted by a deal offering three or four first-round picks. The Jets are the only team that might be in a position to have three first-rounders, but they are still on the fence about trading wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. De facto GM Bill Parcells told me this week that he doesn't have the ammo to pull off something big with Cleveland. "It won't happen," he said. And even if New York was to trade Johnson, say, to Tampa Bay for the 12th and 27th picks, the Jets would likely keep all four of the first-round picks they'd then have, not deal some and move up. Parcells is fascinated by the talent in the middle of the first round and would love to strike it rich with four picks between 12 and 27. This leaves the Browns with a pleasant, but difficult, decision. GM Dwight Clark and his right-hand scout, Joe Collins, are said to favor Arrington. Coach Chris Palmer likes Brown but isn't married to him. A source inside the Browns organization says this decision is tougher than the one the team made last year when Tim Couch won the nod over Akili Smith. The chalk says to pick Brown, because good defensive ends are so hard to find. But if signability is a factor -- and it will be -- Brown will win because the Cleveland brass wants its pick locked up by draft day. Brown's agents, Marvin Demoff and the former defensive end Sean Jones, are deal-makers. Arrington's agents, the Poston brothers, are known for long holdouts. The Browns continue to be frustrated by the lack of progress in Orlando Brown's recovery. Struck in the right eye with a weighted penalty flag almost four months ago, Brown is still unable to do anything more strenuous than walk. Exertion of any kind, doctors tell him, would increase the blood pressure around the retina and possibly do further damage. Brown will see another specialist two days before the draft, and privately, the club has scant hope of him playing this year. So put offensive tackle on Cleveland's draft day shopping list. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN's NFL Preview.
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