Browns ship Kellen Winslow to Buccaneers for draft picks

The five-year veteran tight end earned one Pro Bowl appearance with Cleveland.

CLEVELAND (AP) —The spectacular moments were too few. The headaches, too many. Kellen Winslow’s five-year run with the Cleveland Browns, a succession of stops, starts and setbacks, is finally over.

Cleveland traded the talented and troublesome former Pro Bowl tight end to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday in exchange for undisclosed draft picks new coach Eric Mangini can use to begin rebuilding the disappointing Browns following a calamitous 2008 season.

The Browns received a second-round pick this year and a fifth-round selection in 2010 for Winslow, whose stay in Cleveland was marked by brilliance, injuries and controversy.

An All-American at Miami, where his infamous postgame “I’m a soldier” rant shaped outside opinion of him, Winslow missed most of his first two NFL seasons with injuries. He nearly killed himself in a motorcycle accident, but came back and showed flashes of fulfilling his Hall of Fame pedigree.

Winslow squabbled with Cleveland’s front office this past season. He was almost always hurt, but he almost always played.

Back in Florida, he’s ready for a new beginning.

“Cleveland was great to me,” he said in Tampa. “I had a great time playing with Braylon Edwards, Brady Quinn. I’m going to miss those guys.

“But it’s also a new opportunity,” Winslow said. “I’ve played with some of the guys on this team — Jeff Faine, Antonio Bryant, Luke McCown. I’m as happy as can be. I’m healthy.”

Winslow will be reunited in Tampa with Alfredo Roberts, his tights ends coach in Cleveland the past two seasons.

With the Browns, Winslow had 219 catches for 2,459 yards and 11 touchdowns. He matched Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome’s club record with 89 receptions in 2006 and made 82 in 2007, earning him a Pro Bowl spot. He played in 44 games, but he missed 36 because of injuries.

There had been speculation that Cleveland’s new management team of Mangini and general manager George Kokinis would deal Winslow for draft picks — the Browns only had four in the ’09 draft before the deal — so it was not completely surprising they cut ties with the 25-year-old in a blockbuster move on the first day of free agency.

“The Cleveland Browns thank Kellen for his contributions to this organization over the past five years,” Kokinis said in a statement. “We appreciate his passion for the game and wish him success in Tampa Bay. The draft picks we have obtained through this deal will give us greater flexibility as we look to infuse more talent and create competition and depth on this football team.”

Winslow’s acquisition continues a busy week for the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay cut linebacker Derrick Brooks, an 11-time Pro Bowler and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year; wide receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard; running back Warrick Dunn; and linebacker Cato June in moves to save more than $10 million in salary cap space.

The Browns traded their first-round pick in 2004 and a second rounder to Detroit to move up and select Winslow sixth overall. He broke his leg in just his second game while recovering an onsides kick and missed the remainder of his rookie season. He was rehabbing from the injury when he crashed his high-powered motorcycle while doing stunts in a parking lot.

Winslow was lucky to survive the wreck, suffering serious internal injuries and tearing a ligament in his right knee. He contracted a staph infection in the knee and had to undergo several clean-out procedures.