BEREA, Ohio -- On the same day that the Browns declared that Brandon Weeden wouldn't necessarily get his job back from Brian Hoyer even when he's healthy, they rocked the NFL world by shipping running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2014 first-round pick.

It was a day-long indictment of the 2012 draft, when Mike Holmgren and Tom Heckert traded up a notch to No. 3 to draft Richardson, then came back at No. 22 to select Weeden, whom they thought would be their franchise quarterback. In the trade up to get Richardson, they also sent their fourth-, fifth- and seventh-round picks in 2012 to the Vikings.

Now, with two first-round picks in 2014 and 10 picks overall, the Browns will have a chance to fulfill the mission that's emblazoned on their war room wall. The top three lines read: "The critical path to the Super Bowl. We will be BOLD. We will have a CHAMPIONSHIP LEVEL QB."

With extra picks -- including the third- and fourth-rounders in 2014 acquired last April in draft deals -- they're poised to draft one of the top prospects coming out in 2014 -- and there promises to be plenty.

"I don't want to tip our hands on what we're going to do or prioritize in doing, but I think it puts us in a very good position to have made some real progress and to be in very good cap shape going into next season,'' said CEO Joe Banner in an early-evening press conference. "We've accumulated those picks and we're positioning ourselves to build the kind of team that is good at the sustainability we talked about."

Translation: We're not thrilled with Weeden or Richardson and we're going to turn the page and find our offensive champions of the future.

While they're on their 2012 draft rampage, second-round pick Mitchell Schwartz, the starting right tackle, had better step it up or he'll find himself out of a starting job too.

But Banner declined to specifically answer if he'll try to trade Weeden or anyone else. Receiver Greg Little has lost his starting job to Davone Bess and Josh Gordon is one failed drug test away from a year's suspension.

"We’re not looking to make any additional trades, so I don’t really want to get into that speculation,'' he said.

With Richardson gone, the Browns are set to sign ninth-year running back Willis McGahee, who played for coach Rob Chudzinski at the University of Miami. McGahee will undergo a physical on Thursday and possibly practice with the Browns on Thursday afternoon.

A two-time Pro Bowler, McGahee is coming off a serious knee injury that caused him to miss the final six games in Denver last season. He was cut in June and had a tryout last week with the Giants.

Even though the move leaves the Browns frighteningly thin at running back, Banner insisted the club isn't "tanking it for Teddy,'' referring to top-rated Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who's coming out in the draft.

"As we keep playing, I think people are going to see that we'll continue to play hard and prepare and do everything we can to win every week, '' said Banner. "The coaches will do everything they can to support that."

Banner said the first conversation with the Colts -- who lost starting running back Vick Ballard for the season with a torn ACL last week -- took place on Tuesday. General Manager Mike Lombardi informed Richardson of the news Wednesday after Richardson left the facility. Chudzinski was still trying to reach him as of the 7:30 press conference.

“Trent’s a great player and we expect him to have success in this league,” Banner said. "I think he would’ve done really well here, and I think he’s going to do really well there. Right now, based on how we’re building this team for sustainable success, we’re going to be aggressive and do what it takes to assemble a team that consistently wins.”

Richardson -- picked only behind Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III last year -- was boarding a plane for Indianapolis and couldn't be reached, but Fox 8 News got ahold of him briefly and he said, "Shocked. Had no idea. I love it here. I did not know until my agent called.''

He later told WOIO-TV, “It’s weird to me. At the same time, it’s a business. Their group there, they know what they’re doing. Browns fans, please get behind them 100 percent, don’t lose no fan base over this, still root for them. “Keep hope. Because it’s going to happen. The Browns are going to be good for a while when it does happen.” -

Weeden, in a text message to NFL.com, said, "Shock, man, that's all I can say.''

Richardson's high school assistant coach and father figure Derrick Boyd said, "He's excited about the opportunity and grateful for the time in Cleveland and the diehard Brownies. He wants the fans and the organization to know that he loved this town. Leaving is hard to do, but it's the business of the NFL. His best to all.''

Richardson, who rushed for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns last season but has only had two runs of 20 yards or more in his 17 games, will meet with the Indianapolis media on Thursday.

But Colts owner Jim Irsay took to his famous Twitter account to proclaim the good news to Colts fans, who have sky-high hopes for a team that went 11-5 last season in Luck's rookie year.

Richardson leaves town with a 3.5-yard career average -- not what he expects from himself. He averaged 3.6 yards on his 267 carries last year, coming off arthroscopic knee surgery and with broken ribs suffered in mid-October. This season, Richardson rushed 31 times for 105 yards and a 3.4-yard average. His longest run this season was 10 yards.

Coming off an off-season shin injury, he routinely didn't see the field on third down in the first two games, including a third-and-goal from the 3 in Sunday's 14-6 loss in Baltimore. After the opener, Richardson criticized the coaching staff for abandoning the run in the second half, and called it a "shocker'' that he wasn't on the field on third down.



Banner declined to say who initiated the trade, which Irsay described in one of his tweets as "the tidal wave of dealmaking.'' Banner said he understands fans will be upset, but hopes they'll be happy in the long run. The Browns currently only have Chris Ogbonnaya and Bobby Rainey at running back.

“I just think we have to earn their belief and trust in the decisions we are going to make as a group,'' he said. "And I don’t expect them to trust that until we prove the trust is well-placed. So I understand the skepticism for now. But we have to do what we think is right and move the franchise forward and get it to where we want it to be.”

Last year, Richardson signed a four-year deal worth a fully-guaranteed $20.488 million, including a $13.341 million signing bonus. All told, the Browns have paid him about $13.8 million for the 17 games he's played, and the Colts are responsible for the rest.

"This was more about the moment presenting itself based on the situation that the Colts found themselves in,'' Banner said. "It wasn't something we could say 'can you wait three weeks and let us think about this or learn more.' We had to decide whether we thought it was a move that would make us better. We had to make that decision now. We decided to move forward.''

Richardson began his NFL career with Hall of Famer Jim Brown declaring that he's an ordinary running back. Now, he'll have to prove it in Indianapolis that he's anything but.