With such a long time between the NFL combine and the NFL draft, with NFL free agency squeezed in closer to the combine, rumors are a big part of what keeps the NFL in the news. In many ways, there are rumors and there are “rumors.”

With the second overall pick, a need a quarterback and a HC/GM combo likely on the hot seat, the Cleveland Browns have been the center of a lot of real rumors. There are also a lot of random things that are shared by fans and media as “rumors.”

The Browns trading for QB Dak Prescott in exchange for CB Greg Newsome II and “draft picks” is a great example of why it is vital to look at contracts to get an idea of the validity of a rumor. (If you want to see Bruce Drennan share the rumor, you can click the previous link.)

Prescott’s contract eliminates the possibility of the Cowboys trading him:

The Cowboys currently have about $29 million in cap space and would need to create over $70 million more in order to deal Prescott and be able to sign their own draft picks. If they were to receive Cleveland’s second overall pick, that number would grow even higher.

Drennan has been a part of sports media in Cleveland since the 1980s and currently has a show on BIGPLAY where he announced his sourced rumor that “the Browns are negotiating as we speak” to trade for Prescott and that is one of the reasons DE Myles Garrett was willing to return to the team.

Since the initial video from Drennan, a number of reporters covering Dallas have refuted the rumor, including very strong denials with no hedging:

Cleveland might be interested in trading for Prescott, but all rumors first must go through the “is the math mathing?” process with the contracts. This one does not.