Damarious Randall is dealt to Cleveland.
It didn’t take new General Manager Brian Gutekunst long to make his first potential impactful deal with the Green Bay Packers. Gutekunst send defensive back Damarious Randall to the Cleveland Browns on Friday for quarterback DeShone Kizer.
The NFL Network also reported that the deal included the Packers and Browns swapping 4th and 5th round draft picks, giving the Packers the opportunity to draft at the front of both rounds.
Kizer gives the Packers another young quarterback to compete with Brett Hundley for the backup job behind Aaron Rodgers. He started 15 games for the winless Browns last season.
But the move also takes away the team’s top defensive playmaker in the secondary to finish last season. Randall did miss the last two games of the season with a knee injury. After being benched and sent to the locker room in a Week 4 game against Chicago, he turned things around and went on to lead the team with a career-high four interceptions.
After the season, Randall openly criticized coaches, saying they needed to hold players accountable for their mistakes. Perhaps that rubbed the coaches and the organization the wrong way.
Regardless, Randall’s departure means the Packers will need to spend some resources on the cornerback position, likely both in free agency and in the draft. Randall’s departure leaves the Packers with one solid starter in Kevin King, who is coming off season-ending shoulder surgery.
The Packers went 3-6 with Brett Hundley as their starter last season and 3-7 if you count the loss to the Vikings when Hundley played more than a half in replacing the injured Aaron Rodgers. He finished 30th in the NFL in passer rating (70.6).
The deal likely means the Packers won’t be spending any of their draft picks on a quarterback in April.