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Denzel Ward #21 of the Cleveland Browns

Logically, it would appear that if the Cleveland Browns intend to fully embrace the rebuilding program that is already underway with the trading of Myles Garrett and the accumulation of young players and draft assets by GM Andrew Berry, the team should only keep pushing it forward. That means trading the bulk of the older veteran players who are not quite on the early-to-mid-20s timeline around which the rest of the roster is being refitted.

And that means the next logical piece to go would be cornerback Denzel Ward, a five-time Pro Bowler who is now the dean and one of the leaders of the team with eight years experience behind him. Ward is 29 and on a five-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2022 that runs through 2027.

If the Browns are looking to further stockpile assets, Ward is the guy who could bring back the most–he is still among the best in his position and his contract has gotten more reasonable as the corner market has caught up to his payouts.

‘Browns Should Trade Denzel Ward’

In the wake of the Garrett trade, the possibility of the Browns also dealing away Ward was front of mind, but multiple reports indicated that Cleveland had not had talks on moving him along. For Browns beat writer Zac Jackson of The Athletic, that would be a mistake. Now that the Browns have hit the accelerator on their youth movement, Ward should follow Garrett out the door.

As Jackson wrote on Thursday: “Yes, the Browns should trade Denzel Ward if they can find the right deal. … There’s no sense in partially embracing a rebuild, and the team should swallow as much dead money as necessary on the salary cap in the next two seasons to get back to spending big money going forward.

“If Ward is traded, cornerback obviously would go from top-heavy to very thin. The Browns are thin in a lot of spots, but moving on from Ward would fully signal that the young players are expected to be the faces of the defense.”

Denzel Ward Brings Leadership

But would the Browns be asking too much of the young players, too quickly? Jackson cited Carson Schwesinger as a potential face of the franchise, but he is in his second year. Jared Verse is in his third year, his first in Cleveland. Mason Graham is in his second year. Dump Ward and not only would the Browns have a void at corner, they would have a void of leadership.

Defensive backs coach Brandon Lynch talked about the importance of Ward and fellow veteran Tyson Campbell last week.

As he said: “When you look at what they do, Denzel, he imparts that quiet leadership, that focus on our room. He imparts the importance of fundamentals and technique, and then playing fast. When you look at Tyson. Man, hard-edged. He is a guy who is a physically violent player and has great professionalism. When you have that type of combination in the room, it really helps the young players and the role players move ahead.”

Browns Have Not Gotten Trade Request

Some of this might not come down the Browns’ choice, either. It could be that Ward decides he wants out, and requests a trade. The Browns almost certainly would try to accommodate him if he did. But after missing OTAs, Ward did show for mandatory minicamp, and Berry said he’s not heard any negative feedback from Ward.

“I’d say number one, I think it’s probably most appropriate for Denzel to speak for himself,” Berry said. “Number two, Denzel’s been great throughout the offseason. His communication’s been good. He’s a big part of the team, and we like him a lot. He’s still playing at a really high level. That doesn’t change with this transaction.”