Free Agency
Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2023 1:19 pm
Browns free agent/trade targets and why they must be aggressive ahead of the draft
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 08: Bobby Wagner #45 of the Los Angeles Rams looks on before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on January 08, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
By Zac Jackson
1h ago
Save Article
INDIANAPOLIS — There I was, standing in the main media center at the NFL Scouting Combine last week, with small-ish (by NFL standards) Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey speaking at a podium about 15 feet to my left and 6-foot-6, 310-pound (but looking like more) Florida defensive tackle Gervon Dexter fielding questions to my right. Both feel like second-round prospects, according to various lists compiled by folks who consume themselves with this stuff on a year-round basis, and for a moment I caught myself genuinely torn on which prospect, from a Cleveland Browns perspective, was most worth a closer listen.
No, this wasn’t really some moment of deep thought or symbolism. Mostly, I felt right back at home knowing that Draft Argument Season has arrived again.
Does bigger mean better for the Browns, who are about to take on a significant remake of their defensive line group? Is getting bigger defensive tackles mandatory after the run defense was so bad it leaked to multiple other areas of the team in 2022? Would Kancey or Dexter really be a target with the Browns’ first pick of this year’s draft, which comes at No. 42 in the second round? These are all fair questions and fair talking points in and around Draft Argument Season, which this year still might be fun, eventually, but is about to be interrupted by free agency and trade season.
To answer my own existential question, the Browns are absolutely going big next week. They have to. They’re going to reduce quarterback Deshaun Watson’s $54.9 million salary-cap number by adding voidable years to his contract, and they’re going to create enough cap room to be big-ticket hunters next Monday. Actually, they might not even wait that long as they figure to try to trade for at least one proven player, too, and as other teams make money-driven decisions in the coming days, it remains entirely possible that the Browns will get a chance to follow last year’s Amari Cooper model and use third-day picks to acquire a good player, then eventually re-shape the contract that player’s previous team needed to go away.
The Browns have clear needs at defensive tackle, defensive end and wide receiver. They’re likely going to be shopping for help at safety and linebacker, too. A year after everything was about Watson and the Browns declaring themselves ready to chase big prizes, this offseason is about giving Watson more explosive players to target and cleaning up a defense that has a new leader in veteran coordinator Jim Schwartz. It was clear from early last season that the Browns would be moving on from former defensive coordinator Joe Woods. It was also clear that the defense didn’t have the right pieces — or enough of them — regardless of who was making the play calls.
Now we’re a week away from the player movement period. Schwartz has had two months to get to know the personnel already in place and clearly outline his priorities and list of must-haves to general manager Andrew Berry. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has re-worked the staff in all three phases and has had time to talk extensively with Watson, Berry and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt about the kind of quick-twitch wide receivers who can help Watson not just settle in, but return to his prior form. If Watson is just a little better in 2023 than he was in his strange and disappointing six-game trial at the end of 2022, then the Browns will miss the playoffs again and all the key decision-makers will probably get fired. There’s just no other way to say or view it at this point after the Browns went 7-10 and finished at the bottom of the AFC North, then started this offseason by again having to cut a player who, two years prior, was the first free agent of their class and still had guaranteed money on his contract. Last year it was Austin Hooper, and this year it’s John Johnson III.
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
Browns GM Andrew Berry on releasing John Johnson III and creating 'flexibility'
It’s perfectly reasonable to think Watson can instantly be a lot better and that Schwartz can almost instantly clean up a lot of things that repeatedly sunk the Browns’ defense last year. It’s also more than fair to say that any road back to the playoffs starts with a big March and the Browns positioning themselves to fix some holes and add some much-needed leadership to the defense. Under Berry, the Browns have been pretty good at identifying and attacking the big needs and just OK at actually making it work. Needing at least one starting defensive tackle and still needing a true complement to Myles Garrett is not a good place to be.
Lots of teams fail in free agency; no team actually prefers to have to use it. But good teams have mid-round draft picks waiting to fill holes that free agency fails to fill, and the Browns don’t have many of those. This roster needs major help, and that’s why the Browns are going to have to use major resources this month.
Potential free agent/trade targets
The free agent wide receiver class is not great. The Browns could be interested in players like D.J. Chark, Parris Campbell or Mecole Hardman — or they could trade for a wide receiver like they did last year. They’ll have better free-agent options on the defensive line. Javon Hargrave is 30, but he seems to perfectly fit the “attacking” style that both Stefanski and Berry said Schwartz wants to play during their combine interviews. Daron Payne got the franchise tender from the Commanders, but perhaps Payne could still be had via trade. The Colts are in a weird transition phase, and DeForest Buckner is due a lot of money.
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Buckner, who soon turns 29, is a force in the middle. He’s under contract for two more years at cap numbers of around $20 million in each season. If the Colts are willing to listen and are looking to clear cap space for the future, the Browns need to keep calling.
Buckner has been named to three pro bowls across seven NFL seasons with the 49ers and Colts. (Rich Barnes / USA Today)
I don’t know that he really wants to leave the Pacific time zone, but the Browns should also be calling about linebacker Bobby Wagner, who’s parting ways with the Rams. Getting that kind of leader would help the entire team; landing Wagner would also be a statement to those of us on the outside that players think the Browns are close. Four different players played middle linebacker for the Browns last year; three of them are free agents, and none of them is the player that Wagner is, even at 32.
Maybe the leadership need can be partially filled by defensive end Brandon Graham, who’s going to be 35 and would be the Browns’ third rusher. Graham was a Pro Bowler under Schwartz when Schwartz was the Eagles’ defensive coordinator. That feels like a down-the-line signing, and everything points to the Browns being busy and aggressive right now. Free agency doesn’t necessarily have to be done in 36 hours, but the Browns won’t be the only bidders if they’re going to be shopping in the high-bonus district.
Defensive tackle over defensive end? Wide receiver over other defensive needs? Maybe one big trade and one big signing, then some depth guys? We’ll soon see. We’re all kind of guessing right now, which is part of what makes these arguments so fun. We all want to be right. The Browns NEED to be right. Bad draft classes and bad free agent classes land you at the bottom of the division. They make you desperate in March, too. It’s not that desperation has to be a bad thing. There’s supposed to be urgency in trying to improve the roster and trying to further unlock your best players. There has to be urgency now.
One prediction/argument I feel pretty good about is the Browns won’t ultimately pick at No. 42. They’ll either trade that pick for a defensive lineman over the next several days, or trade down once the second day of the draft begins. The draft’s five best wide receivers will be long gone by then. Presumably, the Browns will have spent pretty big money on multiple defensive veterans by then.
To go all the way back to the top, I don’t think the Browns would take a defensive tackle at No. 42. They just haven’t valued that position the way they have others — which is probably a big reason why they’re in the spot they’re in now. In two or three weeks, we’ll be right back to arguments about the team’s draft-age guardrails, reliance on athletic testing numbers and how many available rookies could really help this Browns team in 2023. But for now, let’s follow the team’s lead in focusing on right now. Last year, the Cooper trade was made in the wake of the combine and two days before the free agent negotiation period actually started. March 13 marks the official start of the big money flying. For the Browns, the quiet period of the offseason is over — and the time to fix some of the prior wrongs is right now.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 08: Bobby Wagner #45 of the Los Angeles Rams looks on before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on January 08, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
By Zac Jackson
1h ago
Save Article
INDIANAPOLIS — There I was, standing in the main media center at the NFL Scouting Combine last week, with small-ish (by NFL standards) Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey speaking at a podium about 15 feet to my left and 6-foot-6, 310-pound (but looking like more) Florida defensive tackle Gervon Dexter fielding questions to my right. Both feel like second-round prospects, according to various lists compiled by folks who consume themselves with this stuff on a year-round basis, and for a moment I caught myself genuinely torn on which prospect, from a Cleveland Browns perspective, was most worth a closer listen.
No, this wasn’t really some moment of deep thought or symbolism. Mostly, I felt right back at home knowing that Draft Argument Season has arrived again.
Does bigger mean better for the Browns, who are about to take on a significant remake of their defensive line group? Is getting bigger defensive tackles mandatory after the run defense was so bad it leaked to multiple other areas of the team in 2022? Would Kancey or Dexter really be a target with the Browns’ first pick of this year’s draft, which comes at No. 42 in the second round? These are all fair questions and fair talking points in and around Draft Argument Season, which this year still might be fun, eventually, but is about to be interrupted by free agency and trade season.
To answer my own existential question, the Browns are absolutely going big next week. They have to. They’re going to reduce quarterback Deshaun Watson’s $54.9 million salary-cap number by adding voidable years to his contract, and they’re going to create enough cap room to be big-ticket hunters next Monday. Actually, they might not even wait that long as they figure to try to trade for at least one proven player, too, and as other teams make money-driven decisions in the coming days, it remains entirely possible that the Browns will get a chance to follow last year’s Amari Cooper model and use third-day picks to acquire a good player, then eventually re-shape the contract that player’s previous team needed to go away.
The Browns have clear needs at defensive tackle, defensive end and wide receiver. They’re likely going to be shopping for help at safety and linebacker, too. A year after everything was about Watson and the Browns declaring themselves ready to chase big prizes, this offseason is about giving Watson more explosive players to target and cleaning up a defense that has a new leader in veteran coordinator Jim Schwartz. It was clear from early last season that the Browns would be moving on from former defensive coordinator Joe Woods. It was also clear that the defense didn’t have the right pieces — or enough of them — regardless of who was making the play calls.
Now we’re a week away from the player movement period. Schwartz has had two months to get to know the personnel already in place and clearly outline his priorities and list of must-haves to general manager Andrew Berry. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has re-worked the staff in all three phases and has had time to talk extensively with Watson, Berry and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt about the kind of quick-twitch wide receivers who can help Watson not just settle in, but return to his prior form. If Watson is just a little better in 2023 than he was in his strange and disappointing six-game trial at the end of 2022, then the Browns will miss the playoffs again and all the key decision-makers will probably get fired. There’s just no other way to say or view it at this point after the Browns went 7-10 and finished at the bottom of the AFC North, then started this offseason by again having to cut a player who, two years prior, was the first free agent of their class and still had guaranteed money on his contract. Last year it was Austin Hooper, and this year it’s John Johnson III.
go-deeper
GO DEEPER
Browns GM Andrew Berry on releasing John Johnson III and creating 'flexibility'
It’s perfectly reasonable to think Watson can instantly be a lot better and that Schwartz can almost instantly clean up a lot of things that repeatedly sunk the Browns’ defense last year. It’s also more than fair to say that any road back to the playoffs starts with a big March and the Browns positioning themselves to fix some holes and add some much-needed leadership to the defense. Under Berry, the Browns have been pretty good at identifying and attacking the big needs and just OK at actually making it work. Needing at least one starting defensive tackle and still needing a true complement to Myles Garrett is not a good place to be.
Lots of teams fail in free agency; no team actually prefers to have to use it. But good teams have mid-round draft picks waiting to fill holes that free agency fails to fill, and the Browns don’t have many of those. This roster needs major help, and that’s why the Browns are going to have to use major resources this month.
Potential free agent/trade targets
The free agent wide receiver class is not great. The Browns could be interested in players like D.J. Chark, Parris Campbell or Mecole Hardman — or they could trade for a wide receiver like they did last year. They’ll have better free-agent options on the defensive line. Javon Hargrave is 30, but he seems to perfectly fit the “attacking” style that both Stefanski and Berry said Schwartz wants to play during their combine interviews. Daron Payne got the franchise tender from the Commanders, but perhaps Payne could still be had via trade. The Colts are in a weird transition phase, and DeForest Buckner is due a lot of money.
ADVERTISEMENT
Buckner, who soon turns 29, is a force in the middle. He’s under contract for two more years at cap numbers of around $20 million in each season. If the Colts are willing to listen and are looking to clear cap space for the future, the Browns need to keep calling.
Buckner has been named to three pro bowls across seven NFL seasons with the 49ers and Colts. (Rich Barnes / USA Today)
I don’t know that he really wants to leave the Pacific time zone, but the Browns should also be calling about linebacker Bobby Wagner, who’s parting ways with the Rams. Getting that kind of leader would help the entire team; landing Wagner would also be a statement to those of us on the outside that players think the Browns are close. Four different players played middle linebacker for the Browns last year; three of them are free agents, and none of them is the player that Wagner is, even at 32.
Maybe the leadership need can be partially filled by defensive end Brandon Graham, who’s going to be 35 and would be the Browns’ third rusher. Graham was a Pro Bowler under Schwartz when Schwartz was the Eagles’ defensive coordinator. That feels like a down-the-line signing, and everything points to the Browns being busy and aggressive right now. Free agency doesn’t necessarily have to be done in 36 hours, but the Browns won’t be the only bidders if they’re going to be shopping in the high-bonus district.
Defensive tackle over defensive end? Wide receiver over other defensive needs? Maybe one big trade and one big signing, then some depth guys? We’ll soon see. We’re all kind of guessing right now, which is part of what makes these arguments so fun. We all want to be right. The Browns NEED to be right. Bad draft classes and bad free agent classes land you at the bottom of the division. They make you desperate in March, too. It’s not that desperation has to be a bad thing. There’s supposed to be urgency in trying to improve the roster and trying to further unlock your best players. There has to be urgency now.
One prediction/argument I feel pretty good about is the Browns won’t ultimately pick at No. 42. They’ll either trade that pick for a defensive lineman over the next several days, or trade down once the second day of the draft begins. The draft’s five best wide receivers will be long gone by then. Presumably, the Browns will have spent pretty big money on multiple defensive veterans by then.
To go all the way back to the top, I don’t think the Browns would take a defensive tackle at No. 42. They just haven’t valued that position the way they have others — which is probably a big reason why they’re in the spot they’re in now. In two or three weeks, we’ll be right back to arguments about the team’s draft-age guardrails, reliance on athletic testing numbers and how many available rookies could really help this Browns team in 2023. But for now, let’s follow the team’s lead in focusing on right now. Last year, the Cooper trade was made in the wake of the combine and two days before the free agent negotiation period actually started. March 13 marks the official start of the big money flying. For the Browns, the quiet period of the offseason is over — and the time to fix some of the prior wrongs is right now.
