In the aftermath of the Cleveland Browns trading CB Greg Newsome II, his former teammate Denzel Ward reacted to the news 

It's been a week filled with changes inside the Cleveland Browns team facility in Berea. On Tuesday, the team made headlines for trading 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. 

One day later, the franchise was at it again via a late night trade that sent veteran cornerback Greg Newsome II to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Players inside the locker room were still processing the decision, including star cornerback Denzel Ward. 

“Wishing him the best there,” Ward said of his former teammate. “I know he’s gonna ball out, do great for those guys. But yeah, I was hurt by it, for sure.”

The full parameters of the deal saw Cleveland attach a 2026 sixth-round pick to Newsome, to receive  cornerback Tyson Campbell and a 2026 seventh-round pick in return. Ironically, it's a swap of cornerbacks who were drafted the same year, with Newsome going seven picks before Campbell in 2021 as a first-round pick. Campbell was the first pick of the second round that year. 

Essentially, the Browns traded and replaced their No. 2 cornerback in one fell swoop, opting to build around Campbell, on a more affordable deal that he just signed last offseason, over Newsome, who's stellar play so far this season filling in as an outside corner for Martin Emerson Jr. was going to earn him a big pay day. 

That doesn't make it any easier of a pill to swallow inside the Browns' locker room for those who grew close with Newsome over his first four-and-a-half years in the league. Most notably, Ward. 

“It’s tough. I shed some tears for Greg, man I shed some tears for Greg," the Pro Bowler admitted. "Like I said, that’s my brother, and it was just tough seeing him going to a different team.”

Two trades in a week would seem to suggest that the Browns may have changed their approach to the 2025 season. While both moves caught Ward by surprise, he still expressed a believe that winning is the organization's main priority. 

“Winning is definitely still at the forefront for this organization, this team,” Ward said. “I know for me, definitely, every time I go out there the goal is to win. So it’s definitely still the goal.”