Browns give up on another #1- Barkevious Mingo traded to Patriots

The Cleveland Browns admitted yet another defeat on a first round draft pick and said goodbye to the final remaining link to the Joe Banner/Mike Lombardi administration as the Browns traded 2013 first rounder Barkevious Mingo to the New England Patriots for a 2017 5th round draft pick.

Mingo was the sixth overall pick in one of the weaker drafts in recent history,but despite me liking the pick (although I did slightly prefer Jarvis Jones of Georgia at the same position chosen by the Steelers),came with some red flags as far as production from a strong program in LSU.
Mingo had a fast start in his rookie year and looked to be on his way to at least being a strong situational pass rusher.
However,after the firing of Rob Chudzinski and defensive coordinator Ray Horton at the end of that season,Mingo seemed lost in the Mike Pettine scheme and was relegated to special teams (he was quite good,but special teams for the 6th overall pick) and dropped back in coverage,which he struggled with and was the opposite of what he possessed in his skillset.

The biggest issue that I saw with Mingo was that he just wasn't strong enough to get past offensive tackles to get to the passer and his speed,while impressive,made him essentially a one run racehorse.
I remember many times watching Mingo just miss sacks a fraction of a second after the ball had been released and even futilely holding onto a quarterback,but unable to take him down to complete the play.

Mingo could be a helpful piece for New England,which has done such a good job in rehabilitating players in the past and with his physical skills should at least help on special teams at worst.
Mingo could perhaps be developed as a pass rusher and on a team that he could be deployed against a lesser offensive lineman might be helpful on occasion.

The Browns have jettisoned another wasted first rounder,but there is a positive aspect with getting a fifth rounder (although it's closer to a sixth,considering the Patriots are more than likely to be picking at the bottom of the first round.
The return is nothing to excite yourself over,but something for a player that was more than likely to be released in 10 days certainly beats nothing at all.

Cleveland continues in yet another mass cleaning of the franchise and even though I am still doubtful of the capabilities of Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta,so far I have seen nothing that I have been red faced furious over and only two things that stand that I have major questions with-the overdrafting of Cody Kessler in the 3rd round (Hue Jackson likely has a piece of that as well) and the inability to keep Mitchell Schwartz when the player wanted to return to accept a previous team offer.

Small steps for a team that may have to overachieve to surpass the 3-13 season of 2015,but I'm somewhat optimistic that the right steps are at least being considered.

Next time-West Virginia and the Black Bears....