6 Browns Players Fans Will Be Sad to See Leave in Free Agency

4. Shelby Harris, DT

When Joe Woods was running Cleveland's defense, he was all about the attacking style defensive linemen. He threw as many 3-tech pass rushers as he could on the field and wanted to stop the run while "on the way to the quarterback." That plan failed in the worst way as Taven Bryan and Jordan Elliott proved to be a woeful starting combination.

With Jim Schwartz taking over, they re-tooled the interior of the line. The Browns not only signed Dalvin Tomlinson but they also used a third-round pick on Siaki Ika and made a low-risk/high-reward move by signing Maurice Hurst. When they realized Ika wasn't ready for a large role as a rookie, they then finished the unit out with another veteran addition, Shelby Harris.

The results were exactly what they wanted. Tomlinson was excellent in his role and even Elliott excelled with a better partner. Hurst gave them a major boost off the bench and when he was lost for the season, Harris saw his snap count increase and was highly effective.

In his ninth season in the league, Harris had 28 tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and batted down five passes. He was a force in the middle of the line and even did better against the run than expected. Having said all of that, he's going to be 33 when the season starts and can still ask for more money than Cleveland might be willing to pay. That makes this reunion a tough one to envision, although they might be able to bring Hurst back on another short-term deal which would be a win.