Getty Image / Ric Tapia
At this time last year, Elijah Moore was one of NFL Twitter’s favorite breakout candidates.
He was a highly-touted prospect coming out of Ole Miss a couple of years ago and flashed his potentiall in a few standout performances as a rookie.
In Year 2, fans expected improvements from Zach Wilson to give Moore the chance to truly show off his talents.
Unfortunately, that improved quarterback play never came as Wilson continued to struggle throughout the 2022 season.
His QB’s struggles brought some rough weeks for Moore along with them.
Moore struggled to get targets in the middle of the season and ended up requesting a trade.
He didn’t get that trade during the season and only went over 2 receptions the rest of the year.
Luckily his suffering looks like it is going to come to an end.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the New York Jets are trading Moore and the 74th pick to the Cleveland Browns for a 2nd round pick.
Sources: The #Browns are trading for #Jets speedy WR Elijah Moore. A new threat in Cleveland.
Terms: It's pick No. 42 for Moore and pick 74.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 22, 2023
This trade makes the Jets’ Mecole Hardman signing from earlier in the day may a whole lot more sense.
Getting traded to the Browns is a pretty big win for Moore, who now gets to play with by far the best quarterback he’s ever had in his career.
If Watson can finally bring that potential out of Moore, he could make the Browns offense very dangerous. The Browns already have one of the NFL’s best running backs in Nick Chubb and a talented WR1 in Amari Cooper.
They got solid contributions from Donovan Peoples-Jones last season and could now have another talented receiver to add to their group of pass catchers.
With them only having to move back 32 picks, Elijah Moore was certainly worth the risk for the Cleveland Browns.