Browns trade Trent Richardson to Colts for first-round draft pick

Brown was the NFL’s leading rusher for eight of the nine seasons he played for the Browns from 1957-65. He now serves in an advisory role with Cleveland and believes the move was shocking but strategic. “I was surprised,” Brown said per CBSSports.com. “But then I thought it was a brilliant move ... Because first of all, Trent couldn’t have carried the kind of load that Cleveland needed.”

Richardson had taken criticism from Brown in the past, as the one-time actor called the then-rookie an “ordinary” player despite being taken with the third overall pick in the 2012 draft. Richardson responded by breaking Brown’s team rookie rushing record with 950 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was traded in Week 3 to the Colts in exchange for their 2014 first-round pick. Richardson ran for 35 yards and a touchdown in his Indianapolis debut.

“Philosophically, if I am the coach and someone came in anywhere and did that, I’d say ‘OK, fire me, or I’m going to quit,’” Holmgren said during an interview on Sports Radio 950 KJR in Seattle. “Or we’re going to both go into the owner and talk about this and the we’ll see who’s still standing.”

Richardson rushed for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns while battling injuries during his rookie year. Despite that production, the team did not think he fit head coach Rob Chudzinski’s offensive scheme, a notion Holmgren said he’s unable to grasp.

McGahee is likely to be the Browns’ starting running back for the rest of this season, but may take a backseat to Bobby Rainey in the Week 3’s matchup against the Vikings.

Minnesota will host the Browns on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.

Pagano is excited about the acquisition of Richardson and believes he will fit in well in Indianapolis. “He can do it all,” said second-year head coach. “This guy is a rolling ball of butcher knives. He fits our scheme to a T.”

The Colts are trying to creating a winning program with young players. “We are trying to build something special here ... this gives you another opportunity to do that,“ said Pagano. ”[The Colts’ front office] want[s] to win. Trent wants to win and that’s the bottom line.”

Here are some random thoughts about the move:

• The issue in this trade is not how good Richardson currently is or has the potential to be. It is how much you believe in the drafting ability of Banner and general manager Michael Lombardi. Is the player they select with this pick really going to make the Browns better than Richardson? In a few years, that’s how the trade will be viewed.

Richardson was dealt by the Browns in a blockbuster trade that sent shockwaves through the NFL landscape on Wednesday. Citing Richardson’s incongruence with the team’s offensive scheme, Cleveland shipped the second-year running back to Indianapolis for a first-round draft pick in 2014. The trade comes less than two years after the Browns selected him with the third overall pick of the 2012 draft.

• Browns trade Trent Richardson to the Colts

Grigson says he believes Richardson has barely scratched the surface of who he is going to become, according to the Indianapolis Star. Per the piece:

Richardson was the third overall pick in the 2012 draft and gained 950 yards in his rookie season, setting a rookie franchise record for an organization that has featured greats such as Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly.

For Banner, a seasoned NFL front office executive, the deal was too good to pass up. “The value that we were getting back in terms of what we are trying to do going forward made this a thing that we wanted to do,” said Banner. “We have to earn [the fans’] belief and trust in the decisions we’re going to make.”

Chudzinski feels like the deal will not hinder the Browns this season. “That’s football, you deal with those things, whether they’re injuries, or a trade in this case, and you work your way through the season,” said the first-year head coach. “We are going to play every week to win every week.”

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