Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. Traded to Cleveland Browns in Stunner

New York Giants star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has been traded to the Cleveland Browns, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The news broke around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, originally reported by NFL Network. More trade details have been released regarding what both sides gave up, and here’s the breakdown.

New York Giants Send: WR Odell Beckham Jr.
Cleveland Browns Send:  S Jabrill Peppers, 2019 First Round Draft Pick, 2019 Third Round Draft Pick.

This trade is huge to the Giants future, considering now that Antonio Brown is out of the picture with the Pittsburgh Steelers and now, New York just lost their star wide receiver, an essential offensive force. Beckham has been able to perform above and beyond expectations the last few years, being one of the shining diamonds in the rough that is the Giants offense.

This makes it a lot tougher on veteran quarterback Eli Manning as well and will cause them to rely on Saquon Barkley more than last year. Although the trade did gain some defensive power in Jabrill Peppers, the wisest decision the Giants could execute would be to use their draft picks to select offensive linemen to prevent Manning from suffering a beating on a weekly basis. In 2018, Manning was sacked a career-high 47 times, and lowering that number may not only help that statistic improve, but also help Barkley run the ball even better in the upcoming year.

Although the Giants lost a star, they did win the trade. With the ability to have draft power, along with an improvement in the secondary defense, the Giants could build from this.

The Browns secondary lost a key safety, and how they recover in the draft or free agency is yet to be determined. Picking up Odell does help second-year QB Baker Mayfield, and also makes Cleveland a force to be reckoned with.