The Cleveland Browns are reportedly in the mix to acquire All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk from the San Francisco 49ers. The disgruntled Aiyuk formerly requested a trade after months and months of contract negotiations went nowhere. If Cleveland is able to trade for him, well, he won’t be the first dissatisfied wide receiver that they will have gotten via trade this offseason.
Related: Cleveland Browns Wide Receiver Jerry Jeudy’s Latest Comments Fuel Brandon Aiyuk Trade Rumors
Back in March, the Browns traded a fifth and sixth round pick to the Denver Broncos in exchange for Jerry Jeudy. The former 15th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft had been at the center of trade rumors for nearly two years, and Jeudy himself recently revealed why.
Jerry Jeudy Was Stuck on a Bad Denver Broncos Team
As a top 15 draft pick, Jeudy was expected to be one of the best wide receivers in the NFL by this point in his career. Unfortunately, the offensive scheme in Denver never gave him the opportunity.
Granted, the fact that he played for four different head coaches (including an interim coach) did not help matters.
As a rookie in 2020, Jeudy joined a franchise that was led by head coach Vic Fangio and quarterback Drew Lock. Jeudy had 53 receptions for 856 yards and three touchdowns that year.
The following year, still with Fangio at the helm, Jeudy caught 38 passes for 467 yards and no touchdowns with Teddy Bridgewater as the starting quarterback.
2022 saw the Broncos hire Nathaniel Hackett as their head coach and trade for nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson. The changes were not exactly effective, and Hackett found himself fired 15 games into the season. Jerry Rosburg finished the season as the interim head coach.
Jeudy, though, did see his numbers improve, catching 67 passes for 972 yards and six touchdowns. All were career highs.
In 2023, the Broncos brought in Sean Payton as head coach, though he also failed to lead the Broncos to a winning record. Jeudy, for his part, caught 54 passes for 758 yards and two touchdowns.
And he was done with Denver.
In a recent interview with The Denver Gazette, Jeudy revealed that he asked for the Broncos for a trade not once, but twice. He told Chris Tomasson (via Sports Illustrated):
“[The trade to Cleveland] didn’t come out of the blue at all. I’m the one that decided that. I made the decision to come (to Cleveland) and I’m excited with my decision. … I actually came up to (the Broncos) and asked that I wanted a new atmosphere, a new change of scenery. I just wanted to go somewhere else and have a new feel and a new atmosphere.
“At the beginning of the [2023] season, I asked Sean for it. I asked Sean for a trade and he said no. … Sean was like, ‘We love you and we want you here.’ He was not going to trade me, basically.
“After the year, they told me they knew my frustrations and they understood, like, what I want to do and want to begin. They understood everything and agreed to (a trade).”
Now Jeudy will try to prove that he is the first-round talent that Denver thought he was when they first drafted him in 2020. He is in a good position with plenty of other offensive talent around him.
Who knows? Maybe he will have Aiyuk, too, before the week is over.