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.
Logan Ryan
Logan Ryan was one of the best parts of the Tennessee Titans defense last year, which wrecked the league. Ryan is a cornerback and while people will start screeching for the selection, keep in mind he’s probably the best tackling corner in the league. Which means he could easily transition to safety. After all, that’s what Damarious Randall did, and Ryan’s a much more surefire tackler than Randall is.
Ryan fits what the Cleveland Browns need, a cover guy with excellent talking skills. The fact he’s unsigned still is perplexing, as he’s expressed a desire to play safety. Making him quite the versatile player. With Delpit done for the year, and possibly never again being the same player he was hoped to be, signing Ryan to be a starting safety makes all the sense in the world. Especially with how many reports are coming out about the defense not looking effective during training camp.
The team will likely start Andrew Sendejo and Karl Joseph but both men have the same issue that makes their status with the team sketchy; their health. Sendejo, if healthy, can still be a good defender for a team. Yet, at his age, and the fact he’s been dogged by injuries over the last few years, there’s great concern over what he has left in the tank.
Then there’s Joseph, who’s been hurt since he’s come into the league it seems and when he’s healthy has been largely inconsistent. Even if Ryan is “unspectacular” (as WalterFootball put it), he’s an upgrade at the position.
The team would be wise to bring him in and give him a shot and frankly, he should be brought in along with some other guys as well. The team has more than one hole, but Ryan could easily plug one of two of their biggest needs. Plus, assuming Joseph and Sendejo play well, Ryan could nestle in as a nickel corner for the team or replace Greedy Williams, should Williams struggle.
Clayton Geathers
This isn’t the same kind of signing as a Logan Ryan type. Clayton Geathers is, at best, a starter in the NFL. Not a playmaker, as he’s only had one interception and two forced fumbles in his career, on top of zero sacks. He’s not someone you sign long-term, as he’s had a history of injuries and unimpressive play. He’s also not someone you bring in expecting to put your defense over the top.
He’s a backup at worst, and a replacement starter at best. That said, that’s not a bad reason to sign him. The Cleveland Browns’ depth on defense, let alone in the secondary, was already bad before injuries to Grant Delpit and Kevin Johnson. The team is going to have more injuries on both sides of the ball as the season goes on, that’s just to be expected, so having a guy with experience who can slide into the starting lineup as needed isn’t the worst idea possible.
He’s already an upgrade over the rest of the backup safeties and has shown to be able to stick a hit when on the field. That’s more than a lot of defensive backs can claim in 2020. While Geathers isn’t going to redefine an entire team defense, he can be just enough to get a team through a rough patch.
While the idea is to go get a flashy starter for the Browns defense, the facts are that the Browns, on paper, didn’t do a great job upgrading that side of the ball this offseason. Someone like Geathers may not seem like a massive upgrade but on this team he may very well may be. A guy like Earl Thomas is obviously the sexier option; big name, super talented, Hall of Fame-bound, but he’s also a headcase who can’t stay out of the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Geathers isn’t flashy but he’s steady. You know what you’re getting from him and that’s more than you can say for Thomas.
Tony Jefferson
Tony Jefferson was a big get for Arizona and then Baltimore. In fact, had Jefferson not gotten hurt in 2019, he’d still be a Raven right now. The fact is that he was a big cap-figure on a team looking to make room, so he was a cap casualty. He tore his ACL after only five games into his 2019 campaign and as of Aug 22, was “2 to 4” weeks away from being able to do a workout for an NFL team. While that puts the Cleveland Browns right up against the start of the 2020 season, GM Andrew Berry said that he will look to improve the team at any point during the year.
That means in the middle or start of the NFL season. Jefferson, assuming he’s healthy, would push for a starting position right off the bat. He’s one of the better tacklers available and when he’s healthy averages around the 70 total tackle mark. He’s shown to have good abilities in passing coverage and has solid playmaking abilities (8.5 sacks, 8 forced fumble, and 4 interceptions) in his time as a starter.
Not Hall of Fame numbers but pretty impressive for a guy waiting for a shot. The biggest cause of concern for Jefferson isn’t his play, obviously, as he’s shown to be a very good player when healthy. It’s that last part, his health. That what teams will worry about. An ACL injury in 2020 isn’t what it was in 1990. It’s not the career-ender that it used to be.
It is, however, still an injury that can and does affect one’s speed and quickness. Will Jefferson be able to pass a physical is anyone’s guess, but people should be more worried about what he would be able to show a team when he does finally get a tryout.
What would he look like in the middle of a workout? That’s going to be the key. Is he cleared for a tryout but needs another two-four weeks to get ready for it? Is he saying he’ll be cleared to do a tryout in four weeks? Because those are two vastly different physical states. Which one is Jefferson at? If he needs another month to be ready to try out, then maybe sign him. If he needs another month to be cleared, however, then pass because you’re looking at even more weeks before he’s ready to play, let alone practice.
That’s the question that needs to be answered.