The Cleveland Browns are a very young team after an off-season of turnover but every team could use some veteran experience to push the younger talent.
The Cleveland Browns have done a great job of getting younger and revamping their roster in order to get better on both sides of the ball. Yet, no side of the ball was more in disarray than the Cleveland Browns’ defense. While some people seem to think Joe Schobert was the problem, despite being seen by many in the NFL as a top linebacker, his loss will be felt. Mack Wilson is expected to move over to the middle but the team did add some other players who could help the linebacking corp.
The thing is, the team is going to be better against the run simply because they won’t play as many sets with three or four cornerbacks on first and second down. Meaning you’ll have more defensive linemen and more linebackers rotating in and out in order to stop the run, which the Browns were the third-worst team in the league at doing.
Yet, that doesn’t mean the defense is set, nor does it mean there can’t be some names brought in to see if they can provide some depth or even if they can push a young guy out of the way and earn a starting spot.
Every guy on this list is going to be older, affordable, and near the end of their career. They should not be viewed as a game-changer but as a talent pusher. People seem to forget that many third, fourth, and later-round picks don’t pan out, let alone become rookie-year starters. Shrieking about how good a mid-round pick will be is laughable.
We have no clue. Bringing in veterans to ensure there are spots filled is prudent. There is no guarantee here, but you can try and prepare for the unexpected.
So bring in some veterans to push the rookies, see who earns a starting spot, see who could be used in a specialty position, and then go play the games. The contracts will be cheap, one-year deals, so if a rookie or young players outperform the veteran, just cut the veteran. No harm, no foul. It doesn’t hurt to see what is still out there.
Manti Te’o
There’s no denying that Manti Te’o has never lived up to his lofty hype surrounding him coming out of Notre Dame. Te’o was the runner up to Johnny Manziel for the Heisman Trophy and arguably should have won it. Since coming out in the second round and going to the then-San Diego Chargers, Te’o has only ever been healthy for a full season just once.
When he’s healthy, however, he can find the ball carrier with a fair amount of effectiveness. He’s not going to take over a game like Leighton Vander Esch or Von Miller, but if you need someone who can step up and help bridge the gap until next year, he’s someone who can do just that. No one is going to debate he’s a long term answer at the position. No one’s going to debate that he’s a definitive better player than any of the rookies either.
What he is, to be precise, is an option. An option that can come in and be used in a way that can test the younger players. It’s not a surprise that about 60-70% of NFL Draft picks washout of the league three years after they get drafted. The odds the Browns found seven new starters in this draft is a flat out fallacy.
It won’t happen.
The hope is that someone like Jacob Phillips and Sione Taki Taki can be the answers and fill the gaps on defense. The odds aren’t in their favor however. It doesn’t mean they can’t, it just means that players of their ilk rarely turn into impact players. A player like Te’o can help expose or confirm if the younger players have holes that will be a problem or if they can be starters.
He can provide a baseline. If the players aren’t on his level, at this point in Teo’s career, then they’re not worth investing time in. If they’re better than Te’o, then you know the young players are the ones to ride with this year.
Signing Te’o to a cheap, non-guaranteed, one year deal hurts no one. If he’s the guy, great, you found a starter. If he’s not, cut him before week four of the preseason.
Domata Peko
The interior line was beaten down quite a bit. Long drives and a lack of depth killed them in the long run but inconsistent play by Sheldon Richardson didn’t help either. Richardson has never lived up to his draft selection and despite his lone Pro Bowl appearance in his second season, he has largely been ineffective and at times a bust of a player.
He showed some flashes last year, but nothing to write home about. What saves Richardson is that he’s the best available. You’re not going to cut him because you found someone better. Maybe there’s an undrafted free agent on the squad who can take his spot but that’s nothing to count on or expect.
Bringing in Domata Peko isn’t meant as a replacement for Richardson or Larry Ogunjobi. Mostly because I think Ogunjobi is a bonafide great player and should get a new contract. Hopefully. If he earns it. The team needs depth at tackle though. He’s not here to force Richardson or Ogunjobi out. Just to provide some veteran depth if either man gets hurt or if new signing Andrew Billings fails to impress or gets hurt himself.
Teams often carry four if not five defensive tackles in a 4-3 defense. There’s room for him on the roster if he can earn it.
Especially considering the AFC North is going to be run-heavy this year. Last year was the only year Peko had any sort of injury issue and has largely been healthy and productive for the length of his career across Cincinnati and Denver. He’s a good run stopper up the middle but you maybe shouldn’t rely on him to play 65% or more of the snaps on defense.
As mentioned before, he’s a depth signing, not a starter signing.
Terrell Suggs
Oh let’s go there. Unlike Manti Te’o, who you hope could start, Terrell Suggs isn’t here to start. He’d be brought in to blitz. To blitz all night as Coach Yoast said in Remember the Titans. Suggs would follow in the same vein as former NFL icons Clay Matthews Jr. and Kevin Greene, guys who played late into their career but mostly as pass rushers.
Suggs could join guys like Matthews, Bruce Smith, and Junior Seau as some of the guys who played past their age 37 seasons and played well. Unlike them, Suggs wouldn’t need to be on the field for most of the defensive plays. He can still clearly start but it’s not his pass-rushing skills alone that makes him valuable.
It’s his versatility. He’s had over six years of college and pro time as a defensive end. He’s actually bigger than Olivier Vernon, and could easily line up as a defensive end still. Even if he’s lost a full step or two as a linebacker, that would still mean he’s quick enough to be productive as an end.
There’s no telling if Suggs could play linebacker in a 4-3 full time, but who’s to say he can’t? There are too many fans who don’t understand that players are adaptable. Sure it might not be a good scheme fit in theory but he’s played both positions in both defensives. There is the chance that Suggs could come in, get anywhere from 5-10 sacks as a reserved player, and help take the pressure off of Myles Garrett.
Even if he can’t, he’d be brought in on a one-year, bare-bones deal with some incentives for performance-based stats. So if he doesn’t pan out, he doesn’t pan out. No one is advocating for him to get a Kirk Cousins’ contract.