Grading the Olivier Vernon trade for Cleveland Browns, New York Giants

A massive trade has Olivier Vernon heading to the Cleveland Browns with Kevin Zeitler heading to the New York Giants, but how did each team come out?

Over the past week, there have been rumors circulating that the Cleveland Browns had something cooking. However, whenever those rumors would get mentioned, there was never any clarity as to what they were about. Perhaps they had to do with a deal taking shape with the New York Giants, because that’s where things landed on Friday.

As first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, the Browns are receiving defensive end Olivier Vernon and the 132nd overall pick in the coming draft. Going to New York will be offensive guard Kevin Zeitler and the 155th overall pick in 2019.

For those looking to keep better track of these things, here’s what the trade will look like once it’s finalized.

On the surface, this seems like a deal that fills needs for both teams in the 2019 season. In truth, that’s a rarity in the modern NFL. Oftentimes, you see trades in where teams are trying to either get rid of players or shed salary and hope to get any kind of meaningful compensation in return. Thus, seeing a player-for-player trade — even if draft picks are also involved — is a refreshing addition to the early 2019 offseason.

Before we just write this off as a win for both teams, though, let’s take a look at each team and see how they grade out from this trade. We’ll start with the Browns after acquiring Vernon and then see about the Giants as well.