Browns trade Trent Richardson to Colts for first-round pick

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

The Indianapolis Colts pulled off a stunning trade Wednesday afternoon, sending their 2014 first-round draft pick to the Cleveland Browns for running back Trent Richardson.

The move comes just 17 months after the Browns made Richardson the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL draft under a previous regime.

The Browns appear to be stockpiling draft picks in order to grab a franchise quarterback in next year's draft. The deal came on the same day that the team announced third-string quarterback Brian Hoyer will start Sunday, with no guarantee that injured starter Brandon Weeden — drafted by the previous regime — would ever get his job back.

When asked about the draft, Browns CEO Joe Banner dodged.

"I don't want to tip our hands, but it puts us in a very good position to have made some good progress in the off-season, we're in good (salary) cap shape," Banner said. "We're positioning ourselves to build a team that is good and sustainable."

Banner insisted the trade was not a statement about Richardson's abilities, but was an opportunity the team couldn't pass up — the Colts desperate for a running back and dangling a first-round pick.

"This was more about the moment that presented itself based on the situation the Colts found themselves in," Banner said. "We didn't have three weeks to decide. We had to decide if this was a move that could make us better."

Richardson, 22, ran for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns as a rookie. He had only 105 yards on 31 carries (3.4 average) in two games this season.

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He comes with injury concerns, but the Colts needed help at running back with Vick Ballard out for the season. Indianapolis now has two of the top three picks from the 2012 draft, along with quarterback Andrew Luck, who went No. 1.Banner said he was sensitive to frustrated Browns fans who might see this as yet another rebuilding effort in a long series of promises and failures.

"We have to earn their belief and trust with the decisions we'll make," he said. "I don't expect them to believe that until the trust is well-placed, but we have to do what we think is right to move the franchise forward."

Earlier in the day, Richardson talked to Minnesota reporters on a conference call about the pressure of living up to being such a high draft pick.

"I think people make it more pressure than what it is," he said. "I just like to play football. At the end of the day, I'm going to play football like I've always been coached. The way I've always played. I'm going to be physical, fast, I'm going to be up-tempo, I'm going to be the one who's trying to lead by example.

"No matter what, that's a big reason why I fought through injury last year with broken ribs and two knee surgeries, because I know that being a first-round pick what the expectations are of you, and me being the man that I am, the athlete I am, I'm not going to sit down unless my legs are broke.

"So if I can still run and I can still catch the ball, I'm playing," he said.

The Browns announced they will work out running back Willis McGahee, who could presumably take over as their lead runner. McGahee, 31, rushed for 731 yards last year with the Denver Broncos, but his season was cut short after 10 games due to a knee injury.

Chris Ogbonnaya and Bobby Rainey are the only running backs on Cleveland's 53-man roster. Dion Lewis and Montario Hardesty are on injured reserve. Banner indicated the Browns will continue to pull running backs off their couches.

"There are some options out there of guys we can bring in for the short-term," he said.

Contributing: The Associated Press.

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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.