Browns Had Plenty of Reasons to Trade Kellen Winslow

The Kellen Winslow era in Cleveland lasted five injury-plagued seasons. When healthy, he was one of the league's best tight ends, but between the motorcycle, the staph infections and the actual football-related nicks and bruises, those moments were fleeting.

Winslow played in just 44 of a possible 80 games from 2004-2008 and that, along with his prickly relationship with management, landed him in Tampa Bay. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto writes, "[Eric] Mangini and [George] Kokinis correctly believe the Browns have had too many sideshows in the past few seasons, Winslow being at the center of some of the major distractions..."

On the field, [Winslow's] knee problems have severely hampered his blocking. His speed also has decreased, and he no longer can sprint past defenders to get open as he did a few years ago. In 10 games, he was flagged for seven offensive pass interference penalties - because he had to illegally push away a defender to create space to catch a pass.

Another part of Winslow's game that bothered the Browns was his tendency to line up in the wrong spot and not be in the same strategic sentence with the rest of the offense. He was something between a tight end and a wide receiver.

Shipping Winslow south because the Browns didn't want to give him a huge extension, or that he didn't know the offense, are all perfectly legitimate. But I'm not convinced Winslow had trouble getting open, even after four knee surgeries.

It's easy to point fingers after the fact, and certainly Winslow isn't without blame. But having Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Ken Dorsey and Bruce Gradkowski firing balls in his general vicinity probably didn't help. Anderson, despite a 2007 Pro Bowl appearance, has always struggled with accuracy on the short and intermediate throws -- virtually all the routes Winslow runs -- and Quinn, Dorsey and Gradkowski were all short on experience. This isn't to suggest Winslow is blameless, just that getting open and getting the ball are two different things.

But that was just one piece of the bigger picture; the Browns weren't interested in giving Winslow a lot of money to stay, and they instead opted to trade him. They received a second-rounder in 2009 and a fifth-rounder in 2010 for their troubles, and the Bucs get a 25-year-old tight end with tons of potential. Now the Browns have one less thing to worry about this offseason and can focus on the important stuff. Like, say, figuring out who will be their quarterback.