Cleveland Browns: Should they sign Landon Collins and move Jabrill Peppers to linebacker?
By Randy Gurzi
There have been hints about the Cleveland Browns making some big moves this offseason. One they should consider is signing Landon Collins and moving Jabrill Peppers to safety.
It’s speculation season in the NFL and with John Dorsey calling the shots for the Cleveland Browns, they continue to find themselves in the middle of just about every rumor possible. Currently, everyone who follows the team is on high alert, waiting patiently for some kind of breaking news ‚— and a certain member of the New York Giants is on everyone’s mind right now.
However, there could be other moves to make with players from the G-Men. One outside the box option would be to land strong safety Landon Collins in free agency. He wouldn’t be cheap as Collins is one of the best safeties in the league and is still just 25-years of age. He would also be taking the job of Jabrill Peppers, the Browns former first-round pick who made massive strides in 2018.
As good as Peppers was becoming at safety, he’s still a linebacker at heart and landing Collins would free the team up to use Peppers in that role. It’s also not an unprecedented move as the Los Angeles Rams had some success with Mark Barron as a linebacker after he wasn’t a fit at safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Barron was recently released, but he registered 398 tackles in four-plus seasons with the Rams and had back-to-back campaigns with more than 100 tackles in 2015 and 2016. Barron had this success even though he had to convert to that position after playing safety all throughout his NFL and collegiate career. As for Peppers, he was a linebacker at Michigan and even helped coach up fellow linebackers on the field as a captain while working drills in the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine.
Next. Browns release linebacker Jamie Collins. dark
The Browns coaching staff wants to be aggressive on defense and moving a heat-seeking missile like Peppers closer to the line of scrimmage could allow for that to happen. Landing Collins would allow them to do this while still upgrading their secondary.