Browns trading corner Jamar Taylor to Cardinals for sixth-round pick

The Cleveland Browns have reportedly agreed to trade cornerback Jamar Taylor to the Arizona Cardinals, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot confirmed the report.

Arizona will send its sixth-round pick in the deal for Taylor, per the Akron-Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich.

Arizona is sending its sixth-rounder in 2020, per AZCentral Sports’ Kent Somers.

The Miami Dolphins shipped Taylor to Cleveland in exchange for a seventh-round pick swap during the 2016 NFL draft, a move that was highly heralded in the moment. Those thoughts were reaffirmed as true after Taylor stood out as a competent cornerback in his first season with the Browns. Pro Football Focus ranked Taylor their 19th-best cornerback in 2016, but he slumped some last season while deployed away from the slot in Gregg Williams’ scheme. Ian Wharton, author of the 2017-18 Cornerback Handbook, ranked Taylor as the 38th-best boundary corner.

Rumors about Taylor’s imminent departure began before April’s draft, and intensified following the Browns drafting Denzel Ward at No. 4 overall. The writing was clearly on the wall after Ward joined new cornerback additions T.J. Carrie, E.J. Gaines and Terrrance Mitchell, along with unknown youngster Howard Wilson.

It’s unclear whether the Browns’ defensive backfield makeover is complete, but there aren’t many more moves left for John Dorsey to make. Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Michael Jordan, and Wilson, who was injured for his entire rookie season, are the only remaining cornerbacks from last season.

Williams has expressed his fondness of Jordan, who followed him from the Rams, and Boddy-Calhoun has a tenacious play-style that is absurdly useful for a slot defender. Jeff Risdon believes they aren’t done, so Boddy-Calhoun, Jordan or Wilson could be the next to go.

Whether Risdon is speculating because of the massive overhaul we have seen to this point, or has information regarding Dorsey’s next move remains to be seen. It seems like a better move to roll with the group he has assembled, and then contemplate further moves after seeing how the depth chart looks as training camp progresses.