Cleveland Browns: 3 better free agent options than Earl Thomas
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Browns are in need of free-agent help for the upcoming season after injuries have depleted what depth the secondary had.
Kevin Stefanski sounds like he wants free-agent help in the secondary. After catastrophic injuries to safety Grant Delpit and nickel corner Kevin Johnson, the Cleveland Browns may look to bolster it’s secondary with a big free-agent move, something Stefanski will let GM Andrew Berry decide. The biggest name the pundits are now surmising the Browns may take a run at is free-agent safety Earl Thomas but his reputation has now proceeded him and it’s unlikely the Browns would add even more volatile personalities to the roster. Though Stefanski will let Berry be the ultimate decider, a possible sign that the head coach wants the problematic player.
The Browns defense has gotten rocked recently. Beyond Delpit and Johnson, the incumbent starter at linebacker, Mack Wilson, hyperextended his knee so badly that he may be done for the year. The Browns were also very weak on defense already and got even worse off when free agent signing Andrew Billings opted-out for the year.
The team made some curious moves by letting both Joe Schobert and Christian Kirksey try their look in Jacksonville and Green Bay respectively and didn’t even offer a deal to former starter Damarious Randall. Granted Randall had a subpar 2019 for the Browns but the hope was the team would go after an Anthony Harris type player to replace him.
Not Karl Joseph, an obvious downgrade.
Now the Cleveland Browns already patchwork defense is looking worse and GM Andrew Berry is having a hard time selling this group of misfit toys to the fans as a vaunted squad. Sure, Myles Garrett just got paid but he’s not great against the run and even though second-year player Denzel Ward has already been to a Pro Bowl, he’s also already taken a step back as well.
If the team is going to rebound and make the playoffs for the first time since 2002, they have to make moves now. Thomas shouldn’t be one of them but here are three better options to bolster the secondary.