The Browns have been shopping cornerback Jamar Taylor all offseason and on Friday finally found him a new team.
Cleveland will send Taylor to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for a 2020 sixth round pick and the deal is expected to be finalized sometime on Friday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was the first to report the news while Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal was the first to report the details of the trade.
Taylor was acquired by Cleveland from the Miami Dolphins during the 2016 NFL Draft in an exchange of 7th round picks.
He quickly made an impact in Cleveland’s secondary with 57 tackles and three interceptions in 16 games (15 starts) for the 2016 season and earned a three year contract extension worth $16.5 million dollars. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 19th best cornerback in football for 2016.
2017 was a down year for Taylor with the emergence of Briean Boddy-Calhoun and the addition of veteran Jason McCourty. He had 62 tackles and 0.5 sacks but he didn’t record an interception and his PFF grade went from 82.8 to 74 (71st rated cornerback).
The offseason seen Cleveland add TJ Carrie, Terrence Mitchell, EJ Gaines via free agency and first round pick Denzel Ward to the cornerback room leaving Taylor’s future in doubt not to mention that the team was shopping him for much of the offseason to begin with.
Now Taylor gets a fresh start in Arizona and can learn from one of the best in football in Patrick Peterson. If Taylor can get back to his 2016 production, Arizona could have a nice cornerback tandem.