By Nick Kosmider, Dianna Russini and Zac Jackson

The Denver Broncos are trading wide receiver Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns for fifth- and sixth-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, team and league sources confirmed to The Athletic on Saturday.

The trade can not be officially processed until the start of the new league year next week.

Jeudy, a 2020 first-round pick, had 54 catches for 758 yards and two touchdowns last season. Denver picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract last May, fully guaranteeing his $12.99 million salary for 2024. The Broncos will save that amount in cap space by trading Jeudy.

The two teams had discussions about a trade for Jeudy near the deadline last November, according to a source, but Denver ultimately held onto Jeudy.

Why this makes sense for the Browns

It’s a buy-low situation for the Browns, who needed speed and experience at wide receiver. Though Cleveland has had too many swings and misses at wide receiver in recent years, with this trade it’s trying to replicate the success it found in a similar trade made two years ago, when it got Amari Cooper from the Dallas Cowboys just ahead of the start of free agency for a late-round pick swap.

Cooper has been the Browns’ clear No. 1 wide receiver the last two seasons. Jeudy projects now as the No. 2 with Cooper heading into his age 30 season — and the final year of his current contract.

Jeudy turns 25 next month and is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Cleveland was looking both for a vertical threat on the outside and a player explosive enough to create big plays when quarterback Deshaun Watson leaves the pocket.

Jeudy scored six of his 11 career receiving touchdowns in 2022, when he posted career highs of 67 catches for 972 yards. The Broncos have salary-cap issues in the wake of releasing quarterback Russell Wilson, and the Browns loomed as a potential landing spot for Jeudy, who’s currently locked in at just under $13 million for 2024. Cleveland can extend that deal and lower his 2024 cap hit, but doesn’t need to take immediate action.

The Browns entered the weekend with around $17 million in available cap space, per OverTheCap.com, but can create more than $30 million more if necessary if they restructure Watson’s contract and lower his current cap number of $63.9 million. — Zac Jackson, Browns staff writer

What this trade does for the Broncos

Denver has been creating significant salary space ever since releasing Wilson last week. Cutting the quarterback will result in an $85 million dead-money hit for the Broncos, which is part of the reason Denver released veteran safety Justin Simmons; restructured deals with offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey and wide receiver Tim Patrick; cut tight end Chris Manhertz; and, Saturday, agreed to trade Jeudy.

Moving on from Jeudy, though, wasn’t solely about finances. After a strong finish to the 2022 season — he caught 37 passes for 523 yards and three touchdowns across the final six games — the Broncos picked up Jeudy’s fifth-year option and left open the possibility he would later be signed to a long-term deal. But Jeudy, who dealt with a hamstring injury in training camp, wasn’t able to pick up where he left off the prior season.

Denver simply didn’t view him as a long-term answer at the receiver position.

Importantly, trading Jeudy should also create more of a role for Marvin Mims, the talented second-round pick of the Broncos in 2023 who made the Pro Bowl team as a returner but wasn’t able to make a significant impact at receiver due to Denver’s depth at the position. Mims still managed to finish with 22 catches for 377 yards and a touchdown, displaying an ability to be a dangerous deep threat.

“I think the only thing that really stopped his progress as a receiver was us and trying to find roles,” coach Sean Payton said of Mims at the NFL Scouting Combine last month. “He’s playing the same position as Jerry. I’ve said this a number of times, I think you’re going to see a lot of growth with this player. He’s tough, he can run and we’re certainly excited that we have him. I think the key is for us — and I say us as coaches in game planning — is evolving.

“Every time we’ve kind of put his name on a certain play, he hasn’t disappointed. That doesn’t mean the ball always went to him but the point I’m making is I think his progress was hampered a little bit more with the depth in the room, in what we were able to do and sometimes trying to balance that out. I think we’ll see that expand.”

Even though the return for Jeudy wasn’t what the Broncos may have received in a trade for him last offseason or at the trade deadline, the draft capital they got back in this deal is still significant. Denver now has eight total picks in the draft, including three fifth-rounders. Those picks will be significant team-building tools for a Broncos team that enters the offseason with limited cap space, even after this week’s flurry of moves. — Nick Kosmider, Broncos staff writer

Required reading

(Photo: Michael Owens / Getty Images)