The talk of the town has been about running backs in the National Football League. Many teams that are contending find themselves in need of a running back. The Chiefs could use a dynamic star to take the lead in their offense. The Chargers are without Omarion Hampton. The trade partner that we will discuss today is the New England Patriots as they lack much momentum in their run game. In this deal, they get Jerome Ford from the Browns.
The Browns have a lot of mouths to feed. However, they are only feeding one — Quinshon Judkins. If Ford leaves, the Browns are unaffected where Judkins remain the high-volume RB1. If anyone in Cleveland gets a bump, it is Dylan Sampson. Despite early success, the return of Judkins spearheaded this backfield and made Ford the backup. Sampson has been rendered useless.
If Ford left, Sampson is the backup. The way it is going, Sampson still lacks value but does become the certified handcuff. He would have great value if Judkins went down and could be owned as a deep stash.
As we mock trade Ford to New England, this does have drastic affect. Rhamondre Stevenson has been the lead-back in that offense. He now would be threatened by Ford for a snap-split. The same story goes for TreVeyon Henderson, who is struggling as it is. The backfield would really take some time to develop its new identity, but it for sure would harm both Stevenson and Henderson.
The consenus is that Ford has very little change is his value, but he does have moderate upside should the Patriots decide to get him a large piece of the pie. If they pay a cheap price, I am sure this is not quite the goal, but he will split into a share that could be 15% or 50%, we would not know.
Patriots Receive: Jerome Ford
Browns Receive: 2026 6th Round Pick
Their running back room has been one of instability so far. They are just the 21st best unit in the NFL despite higher hopes. Rhamondre Stevenson is not an X factor, but he has done as asked. TreVeyon Henderson has struggled to find his role that was once hyped up. New England could use another reliable veteran to this backfield.
The biggest factor of all is that, well, the Patriots are rumored trade partners. They are clearly not comofrtable with their current output so they could go anpther direction. Ford will be very cheap and so, why not? I would never expect the Patriots to spend a big number for another running back, but for cheap, they will.
Ford is an expiring contract as his rookie deal comes to an end following the season. Between the contract and his role, he is extremely expendable. In an expiring contract, it is either he plays the year and leaves with zero returns, or the Browns deal him for something. If they can get a 6th round pick, it is better than nothing.
The Browns have two rookies on rookie deals. They will not have to pay either of them anytime soon. They get a pick and run with Judkins and Sampson for the foreseeable future. It is a no brainer, especially is Cleveland cannot get a better deal than this. There is little reason to expect that they could do better given their low leverage of the expiring contract.
