After an inconsistent Denver career, Jerry Jeudy produced his best NFL season in his first Cleveland campaign. The former first-round pick posted 1,229 receiving yards in 2024. Ever since, the seventh-year veteran has trended downward.
Jeudy tallied only 602 yards in 17 games last season, and the Browns made first- and second-round investments at the receiver position (KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston) in the draft. Jeudy’s stock place in the team’s pecking order has fallen since; through four games, the shifty pass catcher has just five receptions for 62 yards.
As rookie WRs and second-year tight end Harold Fannin are higher-priority targets in the Browns’ passing attack, rumblings about Jeudy’s fit in Cleveland have naturally emerged. Both ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano, The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones and ESPN’s Adam Schefter mention Jeudy as a potential trade candidate.
The 27-year-old wideout will play out the guaranteed portion of his three-year, $52.5MM extension this season. And the Browns’ penchant for flooding contracts with void years and option bonuses has Jeudy’s 2026 base salary at just $1.5MM; that would make him more appealing to trade suitors — as a rental, if nothing else.
Although the Browns look to have their long-term wide receiver duo in place via this year’s draft, cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot notes the team is not interested in moving Jeudy before the November 10 deadline. This aligns with recent reporting on the matter, and Andrew Berry said post-draft the WR additions would not impact Jeudy’s status in Cleveland.
The Browns may not be getting what they wanted from Jeudy in terms of production since his 2024 showing — the lone 1,000-yard season of the Alabama alum’s career — but they are a surprising 3-1. As it stands, Cleveland could become a deadline buyer rather than assume its usual position as a targeted seller.
It only took fifth- and sixth-round picks for the Browns to land Jeudy from the Broncos in March 2024. The Broncos had seen Jeudy struggle to fit in Sean Payton’s offense, and after Denver rejected a deal including third- and fifth-round picks at the 2023 deadline, the team took what it could get and moved Jeudy’s fifth-year option salary off the books upon absorbing Russell Wilson’s then-record-smashing dead money hit. As for what it would take to acquire Jeudy this time around, an exec told The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson a fourth- or fifth-round pick could be enough to pry Jeudy from Cleveland.
Billed as a strong route runner coming out of college, Jeudy has enjoyed spurts of success. He was productive down the stretch during Denver’s abysmal 2022 season and then excelled during a 2024 Browns slate that featured four starting QBs.
It can be argued the bad luck Jeudy has encountered at quarterback has limited him as a pro. Drew Lock, Teddy Bridgewater, a declining Wilson, a wildly disappointing Deshaun Watson, Jameis Winston and Shedeur Sanders have been the former No. 15 overall pick’s primary QBs. At 27, Jeudy could be looked at as a buy-low trade piece.
Jeudy is due a nonguaranteed $21.49MM option bonus in 2027; an acquiring team could easily absorb his contract and treat the receiver as a rental before moving on ahead of that bonus date. Malachi Corley, Isaiah Bond and ex-Todd Monken Ravens charge Tylan Wallace are in place at receiver behind the rookies. The Browns trading Jeudy would hurt their WR depth during a surprisingly strong start to the season. Though, if Cleveland losses start piling up ahead of the deadline, the prospect of a second Jeudy trade occurring figures to increase.