Washington “emphatically” denies rumor of Trent Williams trade to Browns

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Maybe a dysfunctional team will indeed continue to do dysfunctional things.

Amid a rumor from Steve Doerschuk of the Canton Repository linking Washington tackle Trent Williams to the Browns, Washington has put out the word that a trade isn’t happening.

Via Les Carpenter of the Washington Post, team officials “emphatically insist” that the rumor of a Trent Williams trade to Cleveland are not true.

In situations like this, the truth is always elusive given the strategic benefits of obfuscation. If Washington denies the trade rumors now and the trade eventually happens, what would the consequences be?

It could be that the two teams are talking, and that Washington wants more than the Browns are willing to offer. Some think Washington president Bruce Allen is angling for a Laremy Tunsil-type package for Williams.

Or maybe Allen wants Odell Beckham Jr., a move that would bring OBJ back to the NFC East and align him with former nemesis Josh Norman (unless he gets traded, too).

Browns G.M. John Dorsey recently has decried rumors of a Beckham re-trade as “fake news,” but it’s easy to make the case that Cleveland should simply admit that it’s not working and that it won’t work and that they should get what they can for him and move on. If they really want Williams and if Allen really wants Beckham, who knows what will happen?