The Cleveland Browns need to avoid bargain shopping for CFL replacement players

With the Canadian Football League (CFL) cancelation of their 2020 season, many NFL teams are looking at adding some of their players.

The Canadian Football League (CFL) has closed up and won’t have a 2020 season. That means NFL teams all over are looking at the league. This is good news for the Cleveland Browns, who have a bit of a mess on their hands. Nearly half of their key players on defense are hurt. There’s no one to really replace them either. The Browns skimped and squirreled away a lot of their spending money away from the defense. They let several high-priced players go to save money.

At first fans and media thought they were actively looking to upgrade the positions but after a while, it became clear that GM Andrew Berry was attempting to save money by letting high-priced players go and replacing them with one-year contracts, back-up players already on the team or rookies just drafted.

This has proven to be a problem. Now that the CFL isn’t having its season many think the Cleveland Browns should look north of the border for some replacements to fill holes caused by the growing list of injuries on the defensive side of the ball. The problem is, however, that most good-to-great CFL players leave for the NFL on their own all the time. While that’s not to say there isn’t someone in the CFL would be a Pro Bowler for a team, the odds are not in the Browns favor in finding one.

This isn’t a shot at CFL players, as the CFL is the second biggest pro football league in the world. They’ve been around even longer than the merged NFL. Those players are prime athletes. The problem is that the Browns have already gone after “bargain” signings before and the team was going to be, at best, serviceable on defense.

The Browns are in the situation they’re in because of the penny-pinching ways of the GM towards the defense. The team’s defense was already a huge question mark with everyone healthy and now with six defensive starters or key players hurt and doubtful (or out) for the season opener, the team has to prove they’re willing to spend on defense to avoid getting slaughtered.

There are still a few players, who wouldn’t break the cap, who the team could sign. While they should take a look at CFL players, they should not just look at CFL players. Berry has signed a lot of guys to one-year deals because he knows they’re not going to be around for long. They’re either not good enough or too injured to last. The team needs to make an investment in the defense now that their two biggest, young players (Mack Wilson and Grant Delpit) are most likely done for the year.

Pro Bowlers Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward can’t carry this team on their own. Invest now, while they’re still some players worth investing in.