The Cleveland Browns open up their preseason schedule tonight at 7 p.m. on News 5 in the Meadowlands taking on the New York Giants. The team goes into its preseason schedule with a number of storylines.
Saquon Barkley slips to the Giants
With the Giants, there is the taste of what might have been for when the Browns took quarterback Baker Mayfield with the number one overall pick in the draft. They allowed running back Saquon Barkley to slip to the Giants who were waiting with the second pick to grab the player many saw as the best overall athlete in the draft.
Browns fail to get former Bengals quarterback
The storylines grow in week two as the Browns play host on August 17 to the Buffalo Bills. The Bills will come into Cleveland with A.J. McCarron as the likely starter. The former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback was almost acquired by the Browns last season for second and third round draft picks but the deal was never reportedly completed because the Browns failed to get the call into the league office in time.
It's go-time for Tyrod Taylor
McCarron became a free agent and signed with the Bills after they shipped their starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor to the Browns for a third-round pick. McCarron is facing competition for the job from rookie quarterback Josh Allen who the Browns and several other teams passed on in this year's draft giving the Wyoming standout an extra incentive to prove to those teams they made a mistake.
Top pick traded for a seventh-round pick
Of course, one of the receivers that McCarron and Allen will be throwing to in Buffalo is Corey Coleman who just a few days ago was slated to start the season for the Browns but was traded Sunday for a seventh-round draft pick even though he himself was a first-round selection in 2016.
Coleman was one of the many pieces in the trading of picks that netted the Philadelphia Eagles their quarterback of the present and future Carson Wentz who the Browns will host in week three of the preseason on August 23.
Lest you think this is all leading up to a massive preseason showdown in week four? Well, you'd be right if you were one of those pining to see the matchup that is the Great Lakes Classic resume against the Detroit Lions on August 30.
