Grading the Cleveland Browns signings of Maurice Hurst, Juan Thornhill and Trysten Hill
By Chad Porto
S Juan Thornhill
The Cleveland Browns continued to try and upgrade their defense by signing former Kansas City Chiefs safety and Super Bowl winner, Juan Thornhill to a three-year deal, worth $21 million. There will be $14 million fully guaranteed at signing, which will be distributed over the first two years of the deal. Thornhill is expected to replace John Johnson in the team’s secondary scheme.
By all accounts, at least over the last few years, Thornhill is an upgrade over Johnson. It isn’t a huge upgrade by any means, and could probably find someone comparable in the first two rounds of the draft, but as the Browns don’t have the luxury of an abundance of high-draft picks for a while, sometimes you have to overpay for modest improvements.
He’s a solid guy against the pass, which the Browns will need at the safety spot, as Johnson and company had a bad reputation for getting beat deep far too often. No safety on the Browns’ roster currently got anywhere close to Thornhill’s 68.7 PFF grade (regular season). Especially not compared to Johnson and Ronnie Harrison, the two former starters for the Browns, who put up a 66.7 and a 48.8 respectively.
He’s not a Pro Bowler, nor an All-Pro caliber player, but he should be able to play as well, if not slightly better than Johnson in the Browns’ new scheme. Though it’s very possible this is a lateral move from Johnson.
Grade: B-