Cards Get Edge Rusher Baron Browning From Broncos

Cardinal88

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Is availability a stat? I think that is the biggest concern. He needs to be available to take the field. A healthy Browning, I'll take due to his athleticism speed. I don't think he will be much of a factor this week because Rodgers will do everything in his power to stay our of 3rd and long situations.
 

kerouac9

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Is availability a stat? I think that is the biggest concern. He needs to be available to take the field. A healthy Browning, I'll take due to his athleticism speed. I don't think he will be much of a factor this week because Rodgers will do everything in his power to stay our of 3rd and long situations.
The most important ability is availability. He's played 43 games in 3.5 seasons, including 28 starts and two trips to IR.

Missed one game his rookie season with a back injury
Missed three games his second year with a hip and then a back
Missed three more last year with a knee and then concussion
Already been on IR once this season with a foot injury(?)
 

gmabel830

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Side note: I once found an old county map showing the land my high school is on was once owned by Baron von Stuben. How we were not called the Barons is beyond me!
I did basically a mini-dissertation on this guy my senior year of high school as part of an honors magnet program I was in. Haven't heard his name in forever!

It was a research paper, and if I recall correctly, amounted to a debate on whether he is one of the most underappreciated people in our country's history or just a hired gun who played his part for the cause in the Revolutionary War.
 
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CardNots

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The most important ability is availability. He's played 43 games in 3.5 seasons, including 28 starts and two trips to IR.

Missed one game his rookie season with a back injury
Missed three games his second year with a hip and then a back
Missed three more last year with a knee and then concussion
Already been on IR once this season with a foot injury(?)
so he hasn’t had an “out for the season” early in the season yet.
 

MadCardDisease

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Cardinals add pass-rushing help with OLB Browning

Arizona Cardinals get: OLB Baron Browning
Denver Broncos get: 2025 sixth-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 4

Grade for the Cardinals: B
Grade for the Broncos: B

The Cardinals needed some pass-rush help. Arizona ranks 31st in pass rush win rate (28%) and recently lost Dennis Gardeck for the season to a torn ACL after previously losing BJ Ojulari -- also to a knee injury -- before the season began.

Browning has had injury issues of his own and was on IR earlier this season for a foot injury. But in acquiring him, Arizona lands a player who can presumably start right away at edge. Browning has an average 16% pass rush win rate at edge in a small sample this season and has a 13% pass rush win rate at the position over the course of his career. He does not have a sack this season but racked up 9.5 combined sacks over 24 games the past two seasons. That makes him a likely upgrade for the Cardinals over Mack Wilson Sr., who has a 7% pass rush win rate and one sack this season.

A Browning-Zaven Collins pairing isn't that frightening to opponents, but it is better than what the Cardinals had in the first half of the season. Arizona doesn't figure to be a true contender, but it is currently in first place in the NFC West and has a 49% chance to reach the playoffs, according to ESPN's Football Power Index. So I don't mind the Cardinals making a small addition to mitigate a major weakness.

Browning is a rental, as he'll be a free agent after this season. That's partly why it's also logical for the Broncos to deal him even though they, too, have a viable chance to make the playoffs (36%). The Broncos also don't need Browning to start on the edge, as they have Jonathon Cooper (whom they signed to a four-year extension Monday) and Nik Bonitto, so Browning is worth more to Arizona than to Denver.

The Broncos have a lot of cap room next year (as does Arizona), so there was a pretty good chance they would not have received a compensatory pick had Browning left in free agency.
 

Stout

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I did basically a mini-dissertation on this guy my senior year of high school as part of an honors magnet program I was in. Haven't heard his name in forever!

It was a research paper, and if I recall correctly, amounted to a debate on whether he is one of the most underappreciated people in our country's history or just a hired gun who played his part for the cause in the Revolutionary War.
The answer is yes :) Also, he told us no at the beginning, but then said yes when he became embroiled in scandal in Europe :)
 

MadCardDisease

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Cardinals address need for pass rusher

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Arizona Cardinals

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Denver Broncos

Date of completed trade: Nov. 4

ARIZONA RECEIVES:
GRADE: B

DENVER RECEIVES:

  • 2025 sixth-round draft pick
GRADE: B-

Arizona needed help off the edge, with BJ Ojulari out for the season and underrated rotational rusher Dennis Gardeck recently suffering an ACL tear. With the Cardinals finding themselves atop the NFC West, it was good to see them take a swing at the deadline. Why not try to stay ahead of the crowd?

Through nine weeks, Jonathon Gannon's defense has been solid, if unspectacular. The back seven makes up for the lack of pressure up front, and the coaching staff has been able to scheme up sacks from a multitude of spots without the benefit of having one premier pass rusher. Thirteen Cards have at least half of a sack, and Dante Stills leads the way with 3.5 -- tied for 46th-most in the NFL. The Cards rank 28th in the NFL with a 29.5% QB pressure rate, per Next Gen Stats. Help was needed if they're to keep finding ways to win.

Browning owns athleticism and the talent to win off the edge, but injury issues have slowed the former third-round pick. He's never played a full season and suffered a foot injury in Week 2 that put him on IR for four weeks. Browning compiled 9.5 sacks in 2022 and 2023 combined, flashing some playmaking ability off the edge. The Cards will attempt to coax more from the former Ohio State product than he showed in Denver.

Given his injury history, along with the fact that he'd all but fallen out of the rotation and is in the final year of his contract, the market likely wasn't filled with suitors for Browning. In the three games since coming off IR, he played fewer than 35 snaps in each tilt and totaled two tackles. By making the trade, Denver freed more reps for rookie Jonah Elliss behind Nik Bonitto and newly extended Jonathon Cooper.

With the Broncos handing Cooper a new contract, it was unlikely Browning would have returned to Denver in 2025. Instead of playing out the string, Denver moved on and netted a Day 3 pick. Yes, they're still in the playoff picture in a muddled AFC, but the move underscores that this is still a rebuild under Sean Payton. Getting youngsters more playing time should be part of the plan down the stretch.
 
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