Cleveland Browns: Adding E.J. Gaines doesn’t change their CB weakness

Additions continue in the secondary but that doesn’t mean the Cleveland Browns solved a key cornerback issue.

Among the positions that needed an upgrade on the Cleveland Browns‘ roster was cornerback.

General manager John Dorsey has taken care of that by adding Terrance Mitchell and T.J. Carrie among others. That said, he is not done.

According to the Browns, they have signed cornerback E.J. Gaines.

By adding Gaines, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams gets to work with a defensive back he is familiar with. Williams coached Gaines with the Rams.

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Scheme-wise Gaines is a great signing. He should play better than his resume indicates. Gaines missed all of 2015 because of injury. He also has never played a full season and has played in just 11 games in each of the last two seasons.

When healthy, Gaines is a solid corner but is more of a complementary piece rather than a lead DB. If he can reach his potential, then it is a different story with him. Gaines has accumulated 31 pass deflections, four forced fumbles, and 158 tackles in his career. However, Gaines also has just three interceptions so far.

Gaines is a value signing because of his relationship with Williams. Plus, he won’t break the bank on his second contract.

Adding depth this offseason is something the Browns didn’t have much of last year. Luckily, we won’t see a repeat in 2018.

That said, Cleveland still has a cornerback issue: There is not a CB1 on their roster.  If it wasn’t for his injury history, maybe Gaines has a case to be viewed as a CB1. Since that is not the case, Cleveland has multiple CB2 and CB3 players on their roster.

Gaines, Currie, Mitchell, Jamar Taylor (who should be playing elsewhere come the fall), Howard Wilson, and Briean Boddy-Calhoun are the corners heading into the draft. There are a couple of players who could play both corner and safety but that doesn’t change the fact there is not a CB1.

Depth is great to see, no question, but not adding a CB1 yet is concerning. So, what could Cleveland be thinking?

With Gaines’ experience in Williams’ defense combined with what Mitchell and Carrie provide, perhaps they are content with Gaines and Carrie as the top corners. Then a rookie could be drafted in day two or three.

Or, by adding depth, Cleveland could now draft a cornerback early on like Ohio State’s Denzel Ward or Iowa’s Josh Jackson. By doing that, they would allow that player to grow into a starting gig. At the very worse, Cleveland drafts their best player available fourth overall and then takes a corner in round two or three.

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Regardless of what their thinking is, one cannot ignore that Williams’ scheme with Gaines in it will help the Browns much sooner than it would with other free agents. On the other hand, with Gaines’ history, he is no sure thing. Therefore, drafting one even maybe as early as the first round could give them that CB1 while hoping Gaines can just stay healthy. Thus, resulting in a win-win for the team.