Browns: The signing of Malik McDowell raises serious concerns

The Browns have signed very troubled defensive tackle Malik McDowell.

The Browns have made a head-scratching signing with the acquisition of Malik McDowell, a former second-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks from back in 2017. McDowell has never played a down of NFL football, and the soon-to-25-year-old is someone the team should have done a much better job doing their research on.

McDowell not only has a history of injuries but an even more impressive history of poor choices. To date he has;

• Crashed an ATV weeks before his first mini-camp in 2017.
• Got arrested three months later in September for DUI.
• Was arrested again two months later in November for disorderly conduct.
• Got arrested in 2019 for an OVI that led to also being charged with assault and resisting arrest.
• Was arrested two months after that for receiving and concealing a stolen car.
• Was sued by the Seahawks for not returning money due to his early-termination

Malik McDowell has had his second chance.

The greatest predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Maybe Malik McDowell has changed, but the chemistry of the Browns shouldn’t be tested with someone who clearly has more issues than Playboy.

McDowell is an unproven commodity, who is on the cheapest of deals possible, but this is a Browns team that needs to be gearing up on high-quality players, who can help add to the stability of the team going forward. The last thing you need is someone who’s prone to making big mistakes making one right before a huge game.

That stuff tends to have unintended consequences. Especially if they were a player the team relied on. That might be the biggest concern.

The “what if?” he’s actually good. The “what if?” he does great for the Browns. The “what if?” he’s having a fantastic year but then succumbs to his poor decision-making issues and gets suspended for the year.

Maybe everything will be fine. Maybe it won’t be, that’s not the point because no predictions are being made. The point is that players with these kinds of backgrounds should not be on the Browns’ radar, not if they’re truly trying to change the culture of the franchise beyond just one good year.

The Browns have had enough players like Johnny Manziel and Josh Gordon, they shouldn’t be getting back into business with players like that.