CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
The Odell Beckham Jr. era in Cleveland has come to an unceremonious end as the team has released him after coming to a resolution on the remainder of his contract.
While the experience as a whole was certainly underwhelming, the Browns do have a need at the wide receiver position that is going to not only need to be addressed in the offseason, but potentially in the interim as well. The Browns have been hampered by injuries all season at the wide receiver position, and haven’t played a single game with their full allotment of wide receivers healthy. With Beckham Jr. out of the picture, and Donovan Peoples-Jones likely returning from injury this weekend, the Browns are slated to be the healthiest they’ve been on the outside since the first week of the season.
While Beckham Jr.’s production wasn’t great, the Browns still do have a hole to fill, and here are a few ways they may do it:
Peoples-Jones breaks out
The Browns took a swing on one of the better players left in the draft in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft when they selected Peoples-Jones out of Michigan. The former five-star recruit out of Detroit had an underwhelming career for the Wolverines but has shown signs of being a really good player in the NFL. His coming-out party was last year when the Browns played in Cincinnati, where he caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield with just 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
This year, Peoples-Jones is actually the wide receiver on the roster with the most yards this season. He’s made 13 catches on his 15 targets for 228 yards and a pair of touchdowns -- both of which came against Arizona. The 22-year-old could be the top wide receiver on the Browns heading into next year, and putting him on the field in a bigger role for the rest of this season could not only solidify that, but help the Browns offense be much better, too.
Anthony Schwartz steps up
While Peoples-Jones was a swing in the sixth round back in 2020, the Browns drafted the guy who may have been the fastest player in the draft this year in the third round in Anthony Schwartz. The rookie wide receiver out of Auburn had a nice start to his career in Week 1 against Kansas City, catching three balls for 69 yards, but quickly saw his playing time reduced after not only the return of Beckham Jr. to the lineup in Week 3, but also when he stopped his route short on Mayfield’s interception against Houston. That was the same play Mayfield initially injured his shoulder on.
Schwartz’s speed is unmatched on the Browns, and he could be a big help for the Browns to finally stretch the field in a way that they haven’t been able to.
Outside help is brought in
The final option here is to bring in another wide receiver to the roster, whether it’s from the practice squad or the free agency pool. A guy like DeSean Jackson could be a possible option for the Browns to bring in on a veteran minimum deal. Although that could be a tough ask to bring a new person up to speed on the offense.
The Browns currently have three wide receivers on the practice squad in Ja’Marcus Bradley, Lawrence Cager, and JoJo Natson. Of those three, the most likely to be elevated to the active roster may be Bradley, considering he was one of the four players that the Browns have protected this week from being signed away by another team.