Browns' Paul DePodesta Stomps All Over Odell Beckham Jr.-Vikings Trade Rumors

Rumors circulated this week that the Cleveland Browns were on the verge of blowing up their offense. Trading wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and his $90 million contract to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a package of draft picks was mentioned as a possibility.

While insiders like Cleveland's Mary Kay Cabot insisted that the rumor didn't have legs, Browns chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta threw more dirt atop its grave, claiming that any stories suggesing a Vikings OBJ trade were "completely false."

Just one year after acquiring Beckham from the New York Giants in exchange for Jabrill Peppers and the picks that became Dexter Lawrence and Oshane Ximines, the Browns struggled to replicate his gaudy production in a turbulent year under Freddie Kitchens. Beckham topped 1,000 receiving yards, but he found the end zone just four times and put up the lowest yards per game average of his career.

Now, first-year head coach Kevin Stefanski is clearly banking on Beckham and Jarvis Landry to have the same type of years Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs had under his tutelage in Minnesota last season.

The combination of Beckham and Landry with Baker Mayfield at quarterback has the potential to take the Browns back to the playoffs. Cleveland's front office might not have a reputation for much success, but even they know it would be foolish to give up on Beckham this quickly.