Cleveland Browns: 5 free agent options better than Malcolm Smith

Alec Ogletree

If you’re looking at free agents, why not look at the top of the heap? Alec Ogletree has had some chippy injuries over the course of his career but nothing significant to make you think that at 28-years-old he couldn’t come in as a better option than Malcolm Smith. The longtime Ram in both St. Louis and Los Angeles, Ogletree spent the last two seasons as a member of the New York football Giants.

An All-Pro player, Ogletree has shown to be one of the most consistent players in the NFL still and with the Browns going into the 2020 season with the most half-baked defense the team has seen in some time, guys like Ogletree should be pursued.

The team’s defense so far in training camp has not been making the best headlines. While yes, it’s still just preseason and it’s still too early to say this team isn’t going to do well but at a certain point there comes a time for worry. The Cleveland Browns defensive “upgrades” were not met with the highest of praise in the first place. A lot of the safeties brought in were done so on one-year deals and had a history of injuries. The defensive line was poor last year, even when Myles Garrett was playing, and the team actually made zero moves to improve it.

The linebackers were maybe the worst ones yet, as the team is just defaulting to also-rans and young talent already on the roster. It might all work, sure, but it might also be the biggest, telegraphed, dumpster-fire in the history of the team.

If the defense gets gutted early and often, the fans will remember that the team chooses to pass on guys like Ogletree for really no real reason.