The Cleveland Browns have got to make these signings now.
When this article goes live, the Cleveland Browns will be hours away from playing the New England Patriots, and that is not a matchup that bodes well for the Browns. The team is lacking in big, quick-play offense and has a defense that can be chewed up rather easily at all three levels.
This team is not as well built as many had hoped, expected, or proclaimed and it’s becoming obvious. The squad needs some free agent help, help that should’ve come in June at the latest, not October but it’s never too late to bring in the help the squad need.
Relying on bad, young talent is not going to help this team get wins. They have to do something to improve this season and stay in the hunt. They are not a squad that can just look to the future anymore, they are carrying too much money and the players are aging quickly. You have a several-year window, at best, to win a Super Bowl.
This team sold its soul to do just that, so nothing would be more catastrophic than enduring all of this humiliation with the trade for the disgraced Deshaun Watson and not doing just that. The Browns can’t afford to waste a single season, so it’s time Andrew Berry admits that his draft picks are not great, and go get guys on one-year deals to help get this team over the hump.
These five players can all help the Cleveland Browns right now, or at least, are worth the risk. And to be clear, I am suggesting all five be signed, not one or two from the group but all five.
WR Will Fuller
Amari Cooper has been a fine addition to the team, overpaid, sure but clearly the best all-around player at his position. Donovan Peoples-Jones can be a good third receiver, as he does disappear from time to time but can also pull out out outlandish catches. Outside of that, this team is lacking at the receiver position.
Anthony Schwartz can’t catch, David Bell can catch but can’t get open, Michael Woods can’t get on the field and Demetric Felton is currently on milk cartons; because no one has seen him. The Browns receiving corp is the worst it’s been since the Hue Jackson era, and that’s not a good thing.
The Browns primarily rely on three receivers, Cooper, Peoples-Jones, and David Njoku, and that’s it. Everyone else has become a liability for Jacoby Brissett. And to clear up the misconception, Brissett isn’t the issue.
Adding Will Fuller may not fix the issue, and he may not even be an upgrade. Yet, the Browns have to figure out something to help generate offense outside of Nick Chubb. Fuller could come in and give the Browns a shot in the arm if he’s healthy, or he could be done as a player. Regardless, the Browns have to do something.
DE/LB Dee Ford
I hate the term EDGE rusher, but if he’s a hybrid flex guy like Dee Ford is, I’m fine with it as it’s a pretty broad term and that is what Ford can provide for a team, a broad spectrum of possibilities. Ford has dealt with injuries in recent years, and at his age, 31, he isn’t exactly a slam-dunk option to come in and perform.
Yet, Chase Winovich has not been good when he’s played and his injury status isn’t helping restore faith in him. The rest of the ends aren’t exactly great either outside of the two starters. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah isn’t the elite player many have pegged him to be, and Sionne Takitaki is average, at best. There is no other linebacker on the team worth mentioning at this point. So the linebacking corp could use some help.
Even if Ford is 50% of what he used to be, that may still be better than any backup end or linebacker the team currently has. One can’t dismiss the idea of the team lacking size either, and Ford could be a real player as an outside blitzer or just against the run. As the team needs all the help they can get there.
LB Dont’a Hightower
The Cleveland Browns already traded for Deion Jones to eventually replace Anthony Walker but Jones has been declining as a player the last two years and he may not be an improvement over Jacob Phillips or Tony Fields. The Browns need to go for broke with fixing all of their issues. Jones, as is, is nothing more than a half-measure.
Even if Jones plays well, Takitaki has struggled, as have Fields and Phillips. Phillips is especially has been an issue for the Browns, and frankly shouldn’t be on the team. Hightower may not be a starter, but he’s someone who can be a third or fourth linebacker for the team still. He can add some strength and size in the middle against the run game. He’s 30lbs heavier than anyone on the team and his size should make some difference.
With how bad the Browns have been against the run, you’re just looking for somebody to provide something different than what the team has been putting out there. So getting a burly linebacker who can throw his weight around, while a rudimentary and maybe outdated idea in a more speed-focused game, is at least a different idea than anything the Browns are doing currently.
DT Ndamukong Suh
The Cleveland Browns have to address the middle of the team’s defense. That includes safeties, linebackers, and defensive tackles. There isn’t a safety out there that can fix the issues in that part of the secondary, so you just roll with what you have. Unless a trade pops up. So until then, you try to fix everything else. If your boat is sinking and your sails are torn, if you can at least fix the leak, you have a shot to survive.
Same situation here. The Browns don’t have one defensive tackle that you can really say is worth having. Taven Bryan is fine but he’s no playmaker. The rest of the team’s defensive tackles have been atrocious. So going to get Ndamukong Suh isn’t a bad idea at all. He’s a free agent and it seems more like no one is calling, not so much he’s not interested in returning.
Suh’s reputation isn’t great, but then again, so many on this team don’t have great reps, so why let that stop anyone from bringing in him? Suh can improve the Browns’ defensive line just by showing up. He’d already been the biggest defensive tackle on the team and it won’t even be close. Size against the run matters, as does strength and he’s got that in spades.
DT Sheldon Richardson
When the Cleveland Browns acquired and then cut Sheldon Richardson, I was happy. For both things. He was overpaid but he was a fine addition, just wasn’t someone you’d pay gobs of money to for his quality of play. So when he got cut, I wasn’t bothered at all.
Man, do I miss his mediocre play. That’s how bad things have become, I’m literally begging for overrated, overpaid, mediocre play. Richardsons isn’t some spring chicken, especially at his position but at 32 he still, well should, have something left in the tank. The Browns are not in a position where someone like Ndamukong Suh can come in by himself and make a difference. Suh would need help.
Richardson can be that help. The two men could come in and instantly remake a defense that has struggled against the run. Maybe a guy like Tommy Togiai just isn’t read (or he’s a bust) and if that’s the case, maybe he needs to learn from some pros.
Why not two former Pro Bowlers?
These five additions would remake the Browns and at least give fans some hope that the defense can be adequate and the offense a bit more explosive. That’s the hope, anyway.