Winners, Losers of Browns’ Big NFL Trades for Jarvis Landry, Tyrod Taylor

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Apparently, the Cleveland Browns grew tired of losing and turned the NFL world upside down with three significant trades Friday just five days before the start of the new league year. 

General manager John Dorsey pried open the massive war chest accumulated over the last two years by Sashi Brown and used both the team’s numerous draft assets and copious salary-cap space to make additions worthy of league-wide notice. 

In a matter of two hours, three trades became public knowledge with the Browns acquiring the 2017 league-leader in receptions, a starting quarterback and an upgrade to the team’s secondary. These deals won’t become official until March 14, though. 

Cleveland used a 2018 fourth- and ’19 seventh-round draft picks to acquire Jarvis Landry from the Miami Dolphins, per the Cleveland Plain Dealer‘s Mary Kay Cabot. The organization utilized this year’s 65th overall pick to land Tyrod Taylor, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. For good measure, Dorsey made sure to keep his defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, happy by flipping last year’s starting quarterback DeShone Kizer for cornerback Damarious Randall, per Rapoport. 

*Take a breath.*

OK. 

Once the dust settles on these deals, the Browns will emerge as a much better team. Granted, the franchise only had one way it could go after the NFL’s second-ever 0-16 campaign, but each of the trades sent a message.

Most importantly, Cleveland expects to compete after two dismal seasons. It’s not going into the 2018 campaign expecting to rebuild anymore. The franchise now features a legitimate starting quarterback, a top slot target and a young, talented defense. Hue Jackson and Co. finally have the talent on the roster to make some noise, even if the Browns are still a year or two away from becoming a legitimate playoff contender. 

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Former North Carolina Police Officer Who Beat Black Man Is Charged With Assault

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A former North Carolina police officer who was caught on video beating a black man in August has been charged with two counts of assault, a state district attorney said Friday.

The officer, Christopher Hickman, who is shown in the video beating and Tasering the man, Johnnie Jermaine Rush, was charged Thursday with assault by strangulation, a felony, and assault inflicting serious injury, a misdemeanor, said Todd Williams, the district attorney of Buncombe County.

Officer Hickman was also charged with a second misdemeanor, for threatening Mr. Rush.

The charges came after the video, which was obtained by The Citizen Times and released in a story last month, caused an outcry in Asheville, the county seat of Buncombe County and the largest city in Western North Carolina.

“The city is in outrage,” Councilwoman Sheneika Smith told The New York Times in an interview on Wednesday.

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The video shows Mr. Rush being approached by an officer in training, Verino Ruggiero, shortly after midnight on Aug. 25, 2017. Officer Ruggiero then accuses Mr. Rush of jaywalking, and Mr. Rush says that he is trying to go home.

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