Cleveland Browns: 10 step method to fixing the team
FOLLOWING 2017 SEASON
5. Throw an incredible amount of money at Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson, Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson
On the defensive side of the football, the Browns have a ton of young talent, which is both good and bad. On the plus side, coach Williams has a lot to work with and mold into what he envisions gives them the best chance to win.
However, there are also a lot of unknowns and inexperience, which tend to create problems.
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It is no secret that the Browns’ secondary is an issue, especially after seeing Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton roast them two weeks ago. Both corners, Jamar Taylor and Jason McCourty are solid, but neither is a true No. 1 corner.
Enter Johnson. The current Ram is a big 6’2″, 213 pound cornerback who has been playing at a high level for the last few years. Heck, the Rams kept him over now-Giants cornerback, and current lockdown corner, Janoris Jenkins.
Johnson had a career-high seven interceptions back in 2015 with Williams as his defensive coordinator. Pro Football Focus graded him as the 26th best cornerback last season. Johnson, who is playing this year under the franchise tag, will be looking for a big payday, and the Browns can afford to give it to him.
Along with a struggling secondary, the Browns need an inside pass rusher to help disrupt the quarterback. Sure, Myles Garrett has not played yet this year, but there has been no consistent pressure put on the quarterback. Defensive tackle Danny Shelton is not a pass rusher and while rookie Larry Ogunjobi has showed promise, he is better suited for a rotational role at this point in his career.
This is where Richardson comes in. This offseason, NFL.com’s Matt Harmon ranked the interior defensive linemen from last year that were best at “creating pressure by their average raw yards of distance from the opposing quarterback at the time of the throw or sack.” While Richardson was not in the top 10 (just outside), he still was better than 18th percentile.
Richardson would be great to rush the passer next to Garrett and Shelton and could even play most of his snaps on passing downs. Seattle just acquired him prior to the start of the season, but the team is not in the best salary cap state (Spotrac states they will have just $19M in cap space). With far more money to spend, the Browns could convince Richardson to come to Cleveland.