What Cleveland Browns’ Free Agency Looks Like After Ray Farmer’s Promotion
Dec 1, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo (51) and defensive end Desmond Bryant (92) against the Jacksonville Jaguars at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive Line-The position has been addressed quite a bit in the past free agency and drafts. I don’t see much of an impact on this group. I don’t think Desmond Bryant, Ahtyba Rubin or Phil Taylor will be passed over and they already have solid depth with Billy Winn and John Hughes. Plus Armonty Bryant did solid last season in limited playing time.
Linebackers-The outside group of starters won’t be moving. I expect new head coach Mike Pettine to a better job with Jabaal Sheard, Paul Kruger and Barkevious Mingo than Ray Horton was able to last season. They’ll really need to add some depth to the outside, something I see coming in the form of a former Bills stray or someone like Calvin Pace who worked with Pettine on the Jets teams. Inside though this team could be completely remade and that’ll have a huge impact on what the team will look like. I think D’Qwell Jackson is kept and I believe Craig Robertson is given another season to see what he can do under Pettine. Jon Beason is an interesting name. Once one of the top inside linebackers, he had two years of inconsistent play cultivating to a trade for a 7th round pick. This year he had a pretty solid season though. I doubt he’ll end up a Brown but it is something to keep an eye out as a un-heralded name who can make a big difference. Looking at how Pettine turned 2nd round pick Kiki Alonso into a rookie of the year candidate I would be surprised to see the Browns spend big money here, especially with Kruger already having a heavier contract. Look for another former Bills to join in Arthur Moats as an inside backer. One name I like here, but don’t see coming is Karlos Dansby due to cost and age.
Defensive Backs-Joe Haden and (hopefully returning) T.J. Ward are pro-bowlers at their respected positions but Buster Skrine and Tashaun Gibson are not. They had solid enough seasons last year but it’s not that they are irreplaceable. The big name to look here at and the biggest name I think the Browns will be going after (in all of free agency) is Jairus Byrd. Byrd is a 3 time Pro-Bowler, only 27 and has 22 INTs in his 5 playing seasons. Putting him next to the hard hitting T.J. Ward (like when they played together at Oregon) would be an absolute contrasting style force for teams to be concerned about. He brings a ball-hawking style of play that would really help the coverage up top. Best yet is he would be coming from the Bills where his former coordinator is now the head coach. Jim Leonard, another former Bill who also played for Pettine on the New York Jets is a strong safety to keep an eye (especially if the Browns can’t keep Ward). Last season the Browns made a push for Brent Grimes, they were unsuccessful, but if Farmer was in on that push look for them to make another run at him to start opposite of Haden. I think there’s a lot of solid CBs this off-season including Aqib Talib and Walter Thurmond III. It’ll be interesting to see where they go but I really think they keep Ward and go after Byrd while giving Skrine and Leon McFadden (3rd round pick) another year to improve.
K/Ps-Most of the higher profile kickers will be retained from their teams. Plus the Browns let Phil Dawson go last season so I don’t believe K or P is high on their list of things to do. They’ll keep things the same and go into next season with the current special teams of Billy Cundiff and Spencer Lanning.
Obviously it’s a bit early as some of these free agents will re-signed or get slapped with the franchise tag, while other players not previously considered will be let go by their teams due to cap savings, poor seasons or poor fits with their new coaches schemes. Not much is known about Farmer at this point as far as history indicating future moves since he hasn’t that much time under full control like a GM but from the best of our ability this is what we expect the off-season free agency to look like.