Browns reportedly shopping Joe Haden, Cameron Erving before season starts

Hue Jackson and Sashi Brown took over control as coach and executive vice president of the Cleveland Browns less than two years ago, but have made drastic changes to the roster in their time at the helm. With less than two weeks until the beginning of the 2017 season, they’re trying to make more.

According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the team is “aggressively shopping” two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden and looking to part with 2015 first-round pick Cameron Erving.

It’s likely that other players are available too, including quarterback Brock Osweiler who lost the starting quarterback battle to rookie DeShone Kizer.

Haden, 28, is among the best cornerbacks in the NFL when healthy, but injuries have cost him 14 games in the last two seasons. Haden’s rookie year in 2010 is the only season of his career that featured him appearing in all 16 games.

His inability to stay on the field will likely make it difficult for Cleveland to get much for him, because Haden comes with a contract that counts $14.4 million against the salary cap in 2017 and 2018. But the Browns may be able to convince a team to roll the dice and take a shot on his big talent.

Either way, Haden didn’t look too concerned about the rumors at practice Tuesday.

Erving, 25, could also be difficult to shop. The former first-round pick was beat for the right tackle job in Cleveland by 2016 third-round pick Shon Coleman, who has the benefit of being a draft pick during the Brown and Jackson era.

The Browns would have to convince a franchise that Erving’s talent that made him a first-round pick can be realized in a different setting and that his $2.5 million and $3 million cap hits in 2017 and 2018, respectively, aren’t too much for that risk.

The Browns have emphasized building for the future under their new regime and that has meant acquiring many draft picks. The team picked three times in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft and currently has two first-round picks and three second-round picks in 2018.

While the team’s roster is improved and much more competitive now than it was during a 1-15 season in 2016, the team still isn’t ready to compete for a Super Bowl, so cashing in expendable pieces to continue an emphasis on the draft makes sense.

Haden is a starter for the Browns defense, and Erving can be a backup for the team at several positions. Improving the roster in the future is great and all, but the Browns would like to win games in 2017 and draft picks in 2018 aren’t going to help that cause.

Trading them for players wouldn’t make too much sense either, unless those players are young pieces that can continue to reshape the roster for the future.

Joe Haden: 2

Not many teams have more than $14 million to work with and those that do aren’t going to be too excited to part with it unless they feel they can get a big upgrade. Finding a fit is difficult.

The Browns could cut Haden if the team is really worried about his huge cap hit, but it would only save $3.6 million and leave the team with $10.8 million in dead money.

The likeliest scenario is that Haden plays the 2017 season with the Browns and then gets cut in spring when it can save Cleveland $11.2 million in space.

Cameron Erving: 7

It has been a rough start to Erving’s career in the NFL, but it’s only year three and sometimes teams are convinced they can be the ones to realize the potential of a player that others weren’t able to.

Blaine Gabbert got traded to the 49ers. Greg Robinson got traded to the Lions. It happens.

So it wouldn’t be that crazy if a team gave up a late-round selection to acquire Erving, and try to get the most out of a player who has bounced between positions on the Browns offensive line.