Posted by Josh Alper on April 1, 2019, 10:38 AM EDT 
Wide receiver Odell Beckham is at the Browns facility on Monday for the first day of the team’s offseason workouts, but defensive lineman Emmanuel Ogbah is not in attendance.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Ogbah has not reported for the start of the voluntary first phase of the offseason program. The reason for Ogbah’s absence is because he expects to be traded soon.
Word that the Browns were willing to deal Ogbah surfaced when the Browns landed defensive end Olivier Vernon just before the start of the new league year.
Ogbah had 40 tackles and three sacks while starting 14 games for Cleveland last season. The 2016 second-round pick has 12.5 totals sacks for his career.
I'm feeling that Dorsey wants to move up in either the 2nd or 3rd rounds......whichever the best trade deal appears possible. jmho
I am betting Oakland for their 2019 3rd.
Astute assumption my friend. Just so long as it get us the best SS to drop in our laps at the draft.
Right division, wrong team. Nostradamus - I ain't. LOL.
Can Murray replace Peppers, or is he more depth? Ok, Mr. Dorsey, it might be time to stop making deals with KC, afterall, you should know they have fallen apart in the playoffs. lol Unless you can get Tyrek Hill lmao
Boy! I know when I was on that other forum.................I was laughed at for predicting that one day the NFL would be seeing more playing personnel trades in the future but, I didn't expect it to proliferate to this extent. Now who's Dorsey going to trade Duke to I wonder?
brownswire.usatoday.com
Understanding why the Browns traded away Emmanuel Ogbah
By: Jeff Risdon |
The Emmanuel Ogbah era in Cleveland has come to a conclusion. The Browns traded away the 2016 second-round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for safety Eric Murray, a fourth-round pick in the same draft.
Many fans are scrambling to understand the motivation behind the deal. Specifically, why did the Browns give up on a three-year starter who was still a reasonably-priced and useful piece on the defense?
Perhaps looking at it from Ogbah’s point of view will help…
Ogbah lost his starting job. The Browns openly went out and brought in a better, more experienced and higher-priced player at his exact position in Olivier Vernon. That’s an ego blow. It’s his team telling him he has not been good enough at his job.
Now factor in that Ogbah is entering the final year of his contract. He’s angling for what is traditionally the biggest payday for NFL players, the second contract. Ogbah lost his chance to showcase his talents in Cleveland to land that lucrative deal, be it with the Browns or another team.
It makes perfect sense why Ogbah wanted to go elsewhere. Being the third DE in Cleveland and playing more as a run-defense specialist, with Vernon being the designated pass rusher opposite Garrett, is a more important role for the Browns than it would be setting up a big payoff for Ogbah himself.
The Browns don’t have exciting depth at DE, but once upon a season (2017) Anthony Zettel did start all 16 games for the Detroit Lions and bagged 7.5 sacks working opposite a healthy Ezekiel Ansah. Maybe Genard Avery gets more looks as a stand-up EDGE, the role he played in college. Maybe Chad Thomas shows up in Year 2.
There are viable options already on the roster to replace Ogbah. There were not those same options at safety to replace Derrick Kindred, who was dumped earlier in the day. That’s where Eric Murray comes in.
He’s not as good as Jabrill Peppers, though they play the same basic position as divergently skilled men. He’s much different than Kindred, who was essentially a smaller version of Jamie Collins.
I see Murray as more of a direct replacement for his college teammate, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, now with the Texans. Boddy-Calhoun was the third safety and fourth CB in 2018 and — most but not all of the time — played that role pretty well. That’s Murray, optimally.
He offers a lot more than the other safeties currently in Cleveland not named Damarious Randall. Murray started for a playoff team in Kansas City last year, after all. If he’s nothing more than a one-year bridge to someone else, that’s an acceptable return for Ogbah. It’s basically the role he played for the Chiefs, the bridge season between oft-injured Eric Berry and new prize free agent, Tyrann Mathieu.
Yet Murray can be more than that. As an added bonus, he’s been a standout on special teams dating back to college. In that sense, he’s an upgrade over Kindred and Boddy-Calhoun. Murray makes for a better return for Ogbah than an unproven draft pick, and John Dorsey’s familiarity with Murray from drafting him in Kansas City ensures there won’t be any surprises.
It’s tough to see Ogbah go, but the Cleveland Browns are a better football team because of dealing him away.