Sports news & more from cleveland.com

The Browns traded for their new starting quarterback in Tyrod Taylor and traded for Jarvis Landry, who led the NFL in receptions a year ago. Add that to Josh Gordon, David Njoku, Duke Johnson, Corey Coleman (if they keep him) and the running back they should draft, and an offense appears to be forming. On this Takes By The Lake, veteran NFL writer Andrea Hangst, who has covered the Steelers, the Browns, the AFC North and the entire NFL, joins Doug Lesmerises to talk about how first-year Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley will use all those pieces. Hangst covered Haley in Pittsburgh and understands how he makes an offense work. Doug and Andrea also break down the trades, examine the opportunity the Browns have in an aging NFC North, discuss how Haley might use Saquon Barkley if he winds up a Brown, and examine the best way for the Browns to use the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the draft. Doug also drops in a rant about what people are writing and saying about Sashi Brown in the aftermath of these trades.

Football analyst Warren Sharp joins Doug Lesmerises to explain the story he wrote on how the Browns have the most draft capital of any team in the modern NFL Draft era. You knew they had a lot of picks, and a lot of high picks, but Warren explains just what that means. So is that many picks in one draft a smart idea? Or should the Browns have spread out their picks and not traded down so much to build for 2018? Sharp makes the case that building your roster first, then drafting your rookie quarterback, is the best way to maximize the five-year window you get when a rookie is on a manageable contract for a quarterback. Doug also explains why he thinks this 2018 draft is a good one for the Browns to have two of the top four picks. Because not every draft includes three quarterbacks like Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Baker Mayfield and three other premium players like Bradley Chubb, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Saquon Barkley.

Kirk Cousins is a top-15 quarterback who could allow the Browns to maximize their draft picks while getting this franchise back to winning quickly. So says Evan Silva of Rotoworld, who joined Doug Lesmerises on Takes By The Lake from cleveland.com this week to talk all about the Browns. Doug and Evan talked cocoon thinking in the NFL, where unique thoughts are discouraged; the misuse of young Browns players last year by Hue Jackson; whether this Browns front office is as accomplished as many people think; and what is the best path for the Browns this offseason. Evan thinks it starts with Cousins.

The Browns have been trapped in quarterback hell. But their next step can't be QB purgatory, because that isn't very fun either, stuck with a decent team that can't be great because the quarterback play isn't good enough. With that in mind, Doug Lesmerises talked to Cincinnati Bengals beat writer and draft analyst Joe Goodberry about Bengals backup QB AJ McCarron, who is an option for the Browns in 2018 as a veteran quarterback. They also talked about Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen and how they looked at the Senior Bowl and whether they'd keep the Browns out of purgatory. And Doug threw in a quick Kenny Britt rant for good measure on the latest Takes By The Lake from cleveland.com.

Joe Thomas is making his way through the national media, including a story he wrote for SI.com about why the Browns were right to retain coach Hue Jackson. Thomas is a future Hall of Famer, a hard-working loyal Brown and a sharp, funny writer and podcaster with a clear future in media. But what if you disagree with him? On this Takes By The Lake, Doug Lesmerises examines some of the points Thomas made about Jackson, Sashi Brown and what the Browns should do in the draft and tries to work out what to do when you think an insider like Thomas doesn't see things as you do.

Josh Rosen is the topic as Doug Lesmerises is joined by Joe Marino, an NFL Draft analyst from NDT Scouting and Fan Rag Sports. Joe, who can be found on Twitter @TheJoeMarino, believes Rosen is the most NFL-ready QB prospect he has scouted since Andrew Luck, and he thinks it should be an easy call for the Browns to take Rosen at No. 1. Joe is also at the Senior Bowl this week, so we talked about what he's looking for from Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen, but the main topic is why Rosen should be the quarterback for Cleveland. It's more NFL Draft talk on the latest podcast from cleveland.com.

The Browns and the rest of the NFL are headed to the Senior Bowl next week. So is Mary Kay Cabot. Ahead of that, she got together with Dan Labbe to record a podcast previewing the week ahead and to talk about the quarterback prospects in this draft. Topics include: - Josh Allen at No. 1 in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft. - What she'll be watching for in Mobile next week. - The Browns' quarterback decision at No. 1. - Joe Thomas' future.

Draft analyst and Browns writer Jeff Risdon joins Doug Lesmerises on Takes By The Lake to talk all about the Browns, the 2018 NFL Draft and his thoughts from Jeff's time watching practice at the East-West Shrine Game this week. That includes talk about the draft prospects of Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett. But the focus is on the Browns and what they could do with the No. 4 pick in the draft; their best option for quarterback at No. 1; how John Dorsey's style now meshes with what Sashi Brown left him; and whether the Browns can turn around their franchise with this draft. Jeff writes for realgm.com and writes for USA Today's Brownswire. So he knows this team and he knows the players in this draft that could help them.

Cleveland could be looking for another Jay Bruce-type bat at midseason in 2018 if the team is still contending, says cleveland.com's Paul Hoynes.

Joe Vardon and Chris Fedor discuss the Cleveland Cavaliers' latest struggles and whether head coach Tyronn Lue needs to consider lineup changes. The guys also discuss the continued defensive struggles and how much trading for DeAndre Jordan could help.

The Browns' offseason is underway and Mary Kay Cabot and Dan Labbe decided it was time to record a podcast to get caught up on the week. Now that Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson have all declared, who should the Browns pick? What should they do at the quarterback position in free agency? Why aren't they coaching the Senior Bowl? We got into all of that and more in our podcast to get you through the weekend.

Football Outsiders founder and editor Aaron Schatz joins Doug Lesmerises to talk about why the Browns should have won at least three games this season with this roster, which is actually a better roster than the worst team in the NFL usually has. Aaron and Doug break down where Hue Jackson went wrong this year and then discuss the kind of jump the Browns could make in 2018. Browns fans will like what Aaron has to say. We also delve into the future of analytics in football and how the Sashi Brown era affected that. But mostly this is a breakdown of this Browns team - and why they never should have gone 0-16 with these players.

Joe Vardon and Chris Fedor give their impressions of Isaiah Thomas' debut and talk about the challenges that still await. The guys also discuss how the team has changed without Kyrie Irving and whether they will be better off because of the trade.

A day after the Browns finished 0-16 -- just the second team in NFL history to reach that infamous mark -- they held their postseason availability at their practice facility in Berea. Mary Kay Cabot and Dan Labbe talked all things Browns in a podcast on Monday afternoon. We talked about: - Finding a quarterback. - How the Browns will approach free agency and the draft. - The fallout of 0-16. - Jason McCourty's comments about others questioning the talent of the roster. - Moving on with Hue Jackson.

The Browns fell to the Steelers, 28-24, and finished their season 0-16. They are just the second team in NFL history to go winless during a 16-game season. Mary Kay Cabot and Dan Labbe talked all things Browns after the game in our postgame podcast. Topics covered included: - Hue Jackson remaining coach. - Finding a quarterback. - John Dorsey. - The Browns' reporting structure. - Corey Coleman's drop.