First Call: Browns alleged to have 'trashed' charter flight; Steelers CB options after Cory Trice's injury; Pirates' trade graded well

Wednesday’s “First Call” has the Pittsburgh Steelers’ attempts to buffer the loss of Cory Trice at cornerback.

We look at grades for the Pirates’ big trade and track a former Bucco’s movement to a new team.

And we have to share in the latest laugh at the expense of the Cleveland Browns.

Immediate help?

If the Steelers want an immediate replacement for injured cornerback Cory Trice, they have a pair of options.

According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston, the Steelers brought in two corners for workouts Tuesday. They are Montrae Braswell and Mac McCain.

#Steelers worked out Montrae Braswell and Mac McCain

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) August 2, 2023

Since going undrafted this spring, Braswell has already been with the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks. At Missouri State, Braswell recorded six interceptions in 29 games. He also defended 25 passes, tallied 125 tackles and had two forced fumbles. He was also a good kick returner, notching three TDs over 95 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS TOUCHDOWN

Montrae Braswell takes the kickoff 100 yards TO THE HOUSE!!!#MSUBears pic.twitter.com/6jtowKE06L

— Missouri State Football (@MOStateFootball) March 13, 2021

McCain was an unselected player in the 2021 draft coming out of North Carolina A&T. He’s bounced among the Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions. He saw limited action in two NFL games with Philadelphia in 2021.

Trice was injured Tuesday during an 11-on-11 drill in the team portion of practice at Saint Vincent. He suffered what appeared to be a right knee injury. The seventh-round pick out of Purdue had previously suffered an injury to his left knee in 2021 that limited him to two games.

Not so friendly skies

The Cleveland Browns were apparently the cause of a United Airlines flight delay out of Washington, D.C. over the weekend.

Multiple posts have connected the dots between a United Airlines flight that flew from Greenbrier to Cleveland and eventually on to Dulles, where it was supposed to spin around for a departure to San Francisco.

But, apparently, the Browns “trashed” the plane so badly, it needed more time to be cleaned up. LiveandLetsfly.com reported on posts from FlyerTalk, stating that “the pilot apologized ‘multiple times saying it was the most disgusting he’s seen a plane in his career.’ Special menus with the Browns logo were found in seatback pockets. It was further explained that the aircraft was full of ‘garbage, spilled food and drink everywhere, etc.’”

ProFootballNetwork.com claims the Browns have yet to comment.

The team opened its first week of training camp at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia before returning back to Cleveland in advance of the Hall of Fame Game against the New York Jets on Thursday night.

Here’s to hoping the Browns offensive execution in 2023 is as sloppy as their in-flight behavior.

More sports

• Pirates 'extremely relieved' to see All-Star pitchers David Bednar, Mitch Keller staying put
• Steelers camp report: Cory Trice Jr. carted off with non-contact lower-body injury
• Tim Benz: Le'Veon Bell's take on Steelers' playoff shortcoming not as simple as he suggests

Grading out well

At least one national outlet thinks Pirates general manager Ben Cherington did a decent job with his biggest deal of trade-deadline day.

ESPN.com gave the Pirates a “B” grade for the deal that sent left-handed pitcher Rich Hill and first baseman Ji Man Choi to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. In exchange, the Pirates got 1B Alfonso Rivas, LHP Jackson Wolf (West Virginia) and outfielder Estuar Suero.

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle said, “Rivas is a Quadruple-A type whom the Padres clearly didn’t see as an answer for the role they acquired Choi to fill. Wolf, 24, is a Double-A lefty who made his MLB debut this season. Suero, 17, is an outfielder from the Dominican Republic and, well, who knows? Kiley McDaniel assigned both prospects a 35+ FV before the season.

“All in all, this was a good bit of maneuvering for a team that hopefully won’t be on this veterans-for-prospects merry-go-round forever.”

Well, it feels like forever already. But if Doolittle is calling this a trade a win for the Pirates, great. So be it. He only gave San Diego a B- for the acquisitions of Choi and Hill.

Maybe the Pirates at least got some players who will contribute in exchange for guys who won’t be here next year anyway.

For some context, the website also gave the Bucs a B+ for last week’s trade of Carlos Santana to Milwaukee for Jhonny Severino. Santana is 2 for 15 since joining the Brewers, hitting one homer.

Last ring of the Bell

Josh Bell is on the move again.

The former Pirate has been traded once more. This time from the Cleveland Guardians to the Miami Marlins. Cleveland gets former first-round draft pick Kahlil Watson (20 years old). The infielder is currently at High-A Beloit in the Miami farm system. Infielder Jean Segura heads to Cleveland too. He will be released before joining the Guardians, via Cleveland.com.

Cleveland is 53-55, two games behind first place Minnesota in the American League Central Division.

Bell signed a two-year deal worth $33 million in December. But all he has given the Guardians is 11 homers and a .233 batting average. That said, the Guardians are only two games back of Minnesota in the AL Central Division.

If Bell can find his power stroke, he’d be a huge advantage for a Marlins team that only has 96 home runs, good for 14th out of 15 National League teams. They are a game behind Milwaukee for the last wild card spot.

Miami will be Bell’s fourth team since being traded away from Pittsburgh prior to the 2021 season. He has also played in Washington and San Diego.