Browns Add a Corner and a Linebacker

This afternoon the Browns finalized a trade with the Eagles, which sent linebacker Alex Hall, plus a fourth and fifth round pick to Philadelphia. In exchange, the Browns received cornerback Sheldon Brown and linebacker Chris Gocong. You might remember Brown's name, as Phil Savage had pursued him a couple years back.

From the Browns' perspective, I like this trade. Brown can start at corner over B-Mac, although he will probably require a fat new contract. The Eagles had obviously tired of his financial grumblings, and hopefully the Browns can appease him while front loading the contract to make it more club-friendly with the cap free year. It's unclear whether Gocong will play inside or outside, but he has good size for the 3-4 defense. It's possible that he could start, depending on what the Browns add in the draft and the remaining free agent period.

I am a little sad to see Hall go, but he was a project who simply hadn't shown much on the field beyond some special teams contributions, and the new regime had no investment in him. It's nice to see that the Browns didn't have to give up any of their third round picks, and to be honest the Browns had to unload some picks because they probably couldn't have fit 13 (was that the latest count?) draft picks on the roster. The Browns are a better team today than they were yesterday - well, as long as we can keep Shaun Rogers out of prison.