Browns urged to replace Peoples-Jones with $67 million WR

Browns Urged to Replace Peoples-Jones with $6 Million WR

The Cleveland Browns traded Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Detroit Lions last week and are now potentially in the market for another wide receiver.

Cleveland scoured the NFL landscape for that player ahead of the October 31 trade deadline but was unable to come up with the guy it wanted at the appropriate price. Second-year player David Bell and third-round rookie Cedric Tillman are the most likely options to elevate into the team’s No. 3 receiver role, though the Browns could also look to free agency or competing practice squads around the league in an attempt to add a playmaker.

The latter was the suggestion offered by Bleacher Report’s NFL Staff on Monday, November 6, when they pitched Tre’Quan Smith of the Denver Broncos as an addition in Cleveland.

 

Cleveland really doesn’t have a lot of receiver depth. Amari Cooper and David Njoku carry the brunt of the passing game, while Elijah Moore is able to chip in some contributions every week. The Browns might want to look across the league and see what veterans who could start are available to sign from practice squads if they were to get banged up at the position.

With the team trading away Donovan Peoples-Jones before the deadline, though, there’s an even bigger need. Tre’Quan Smith has never been a star, but he’s been a solid role player.

Tre’Quan Smith Has Been Solid Producer Over 6-Year NFL Career

Smith is more than just a practice squad player. In fact, this year in Denver is the first time he’s ever been defined by that designation across six years in the league.

The New Orleans Saints selected Smith with the No. 91 overall pick in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent his first five seasons with the Saints, appearing in 66 games and earning 35 starts. He has appeared in just one game in 2023.

Over the course of his career, Smith has caught 131 passes for 1,764 yards and 18 touchdowns, per Pro Football Reference. New Orleans extended Smith on a two-year, $6 million deal in March 2022 after his rookie contract expired. The Saints released him in September and he signed with Denver’s practice squad on October 4.

 

Donovan Peoples-Jones’ Struggles Are Bad Omen for Browns Wide Receivers

If the Browns decide to pursue Smith, he will enter into a competition with the likes of Bell and Tillman for snaps. However, being Cleveland’s third wide receiver in 2023 may not be all its cracked up to be.

The Browns are a solid team with legitimate playoff aspirations at 5-3, but the passing game has had very little to do with that success. Cleveland ranks 28th in the NFL with just 1,631 passing yards on the season. The Browns’ 7 touchdowns through the air slot them in a tie for 30th behind only the New York Jets and New York Giants.

Peoples-Jones was well on his way to becoming a legitimate No. 2 pass-catcher in the NFL before poor quarterback play derailed his trajectory. After improving every year since his rookie campaign and finishing 2022 with career-highs of 61 catches, 839 yards and 3 touchdowns, Peoples-Jones’ numbers fell off a cliff. The receiver has caught just 8 passes for 97 yards in seven games this season and has yet to find the end zone.

Injuries haven’t been a meaningful factor for Peoples-Jones this year, and while Cleveland’s addition of Elijah Moore bumped him to the No. 3 spot, it never should have had the effect of this precipitous decline that Peoples-Jones has seen in his counting statistics. He is also only 24 years old and playing in just his fourth NFL season, so too much tread isn’t the likely culprit either.

Browns Quarterback Play Among Worst in NFL this Season

That means most likely it has been the inconsistent play of Deshaun Watson, not to mention his inability to stay on the field, that has impacted Peoples-Jones most.

When Watson has been out with a rotator cuff injury, Cleveland has turned mostly to former third-string quarterback P.J. Walker. If Watson has been bad, Walker has been abysmal, completing just 49.5% of his passes with 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions in four games played.

Whoever steps in to replace Peoples-Jones is going to have to navigate the same problems, which has proven difficult to overcome for every Browns wide receiver to this point in the year.