Browns Signed a Jedrick Wills Jr. Replacement While Fans Were Sleeping

The first day of the NFL free agency "legal tampering period" was a slow one for the Cleveland Browns. Swapping Dorian Thompson-Robinson for Kenny Pickett was a fun move, but it doesn't project to make a major impact on the team for 2025.

Most fans went to bed disappointed with the day, but the Browns did eventually give everyone something interesting to wake up to.

Late Monday night it was reported the Browns had agreed to terms with veteran offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas. The signing itself is intriguing, but more important is what it means for a certain unpopular veteran on the line.

Browns Sign Cornelius Lucas as Jedrick Wills Replacement

It's no secret that fans were counting down the days until Wills was gone from Cleveland. His reliability and "business decision" attitude rubbed just about everyone the wrong way, and his play hasn't been nearly good enough to make it worth dealing with those off-field factors.

And now it's all but confirmed that he won't be back.

Cornelius Lucas may not be a household name, but the 33-year-old tackle just finished the 2024 season ranked 27th among 141 qualifying tackles in PFF grade (compared to 109th for Wills).

He's played over 1,000 snaps at both left and right tackle spots over his career, and while he hasn't always been a starter, he played in at least 14 games in each of his five seasons with the Washington Commanders before joining Cleveland.

Wills, on the other hand, will become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday, and there have yet to be any reports of teams interested in his services so far in free agency.

It looks like business decisions were no better than his blocking skills in 2024.

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