Although the Broncos are still an AFC playoff contender despite their one-sided loss to the Ravens, Baron Browning‘s name came up as a player the team was willing to move. Those rumors turned out to be prescient.
Browning is indeed being dealt, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reporting Denver is sending the outside linebacker to Arizona. The Cardinals will take on the remainder of Browning’s third-round contract, which expires at season’s end. Browning, who had fallen to a reserve role in ex-Cardinal DC Vance Joseph‘s unit, will attempt to help another playoff contender. The Broncos will receive a sixth-round pick for Browning, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
[RELATED: Broncos Extend OLB Jonathon Cooper]
Also sitting 5-4, the Cardinals are coming off an impressive defensive performance against the Bears. Arizona dropped Caleb Williams six times, but Jonathan Gannon‘s team entered the season with a limited edge-rushing situation. The Cards lost BJ Ojulari for the season in August, and Dennis Gardeck joined him in being lost for the campaign’s remainder weeks later. Gardeck suffered a torn ACL in October, further stripping pieces from the Cardinals’ OLB corps.
This is an interesting move for both teams. The Cardinals started a multiyear rebuild in 2023, hiring Monti Ossenfort after Steve Keim served in the GM role for 10 years. Ossenfort’s operation remains a work in progress, but it is starting to bear fruit. Gannon’s team has won three straight, and the defense-oriented HC has managed to improve on what was one of the NFL’s worst pass rushes (33 total sacks) in 2023. The Cardinals’ 21 sacks rank in the middle of the pack this season, though Gardeck contributed three to that cause. Only Dante Stills, a 2023 sixth-round pick, has that topped (3.5).
For Denver, this looks like a move to add draft capital without sacrificing a starter to do so. Browning, however, had worked as a starter in 2022 and ’23. He also entered this season as a first-stringer under Joseph, starting two games before going down with a foot injury. Upon return, Browning played behind ex-Ohio State teammate Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto. This trade ensures Bonitto’s starting spot is secure, and even as the Broncos have used rookie third-round pick Jonah Elliss a regular, the Browning trade strips away an experienced piece that has flashed in spurts.
Browning arrived in Denver before Sean Payton, being part of GM George Paton‘s quality 2021 draft class. The Broncos used Browning as an off-ball linebacker as a rookie before moving him to the edge in 2022. Browning replaced Randy Gregory as a starter early that season, teaming with Bradley Chubb. Browning became the team’s lead OLB following the in-season Chubb trade. Browning totaled five sacks in 2022 and 4.5 in ’23, though he missed 10 games due to injury in that span — seven because of an offseason knee injury that kept him out months last year — and then was down for four more this season. Browning has played in each of Denver’s past three games, and the Broncos will cash out. Cooper signed an extension over the weekend, following fellow 2021 draftees Patrick Surtain and Quinn Meinerz in doing so.
The Broncos have made many memorable seller’s trades in recent years. The first wave of moves — those involving Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Von Miller — broke up the team’s Super Bowl 50 core. The team has since parted with pieces acquired following that game, trading Chubb to the Dolphins in 2022, Gregory to the 49ers last year and now Browning.
Although this trade may not qualify as a true seller’s move, it comes months after the Broncos dealt trade-rumor mainstay Jerry Jeudy to the Browns. Courtland Sutton has once again appeared in trade rumors, but Denver’s top receiver figures to be hard to pry given the top-heavy makeup of Denver’s current receiving corps.
The Cardinals will deploy Browning in a pass rush group that consists of Stills, converted ILB Zaven Collins, former Seahawks first-rounder L.J. Collier and 2021 sixth-rounder Victor Dimukeje, whose six QB hits lead the team despite the fourth-year player yet to produce a sack this season. He joins Browning in that regard, but with a regular role on tap, the latter will aim to secure a solid second contract while helping a suddenly competitive Arizona club.
