4 Former Cleveland Browns players who could return in 2020

Defensive End Emmanuel Ogbah (2016-2018)

The Cleveland Browns traded Emmanuel Ogbah to the Chiefs for defensive back Eric Murray before the start of the 2019 season. The biggest winner in that trade was Ogbah himself, as he was able to secure himself a super bowl ring. Last season for the Chiefs, Ogbah was able to tie his career-high in sacks with 5.5 sacks. He did so in only 10 games, starting four of them. That’s a pretty efficient number for a backup edge rusher to hit.

As stated before, the Browns are in desperate need of depth at the edge-rushing position. Olivier Vernon’s future is still up in the air on the team, and I fully expect the Browns to draft and sign an edge rusher this offseason.

Bringing Ogbah back to Cleveland would be an interesting idea, considering that Andrew Berry was a part of the original front office that drafted him. If Berry still holds Ogbah in high regard, we could see him return to Cleveland on a 5 million dollar per year deal or somewhere in that ballpark. I’m sure Ogbah would also like to team up with friend Myles Garrett again too.

Ogbah would likely be cheaper to acquire than the previously mentioned Jabaal Sheard and is four years younger, so he would be the better option in the long term. Ogbah would also give the Browns the ability to cut Olivier Vernon, who has a cap hit of around $15 million this season.

Vernon is obviously a more talented edge rusher than Ogbah at this point in their perspective careers, but Ogbah is younger and cheaper, so the front office could consider going after Ogbah and spending the rest of the cap hit elsewhere. The two could also coexist for next season, as Vernon only has one year left on his contract before he will be up for an extension or a free agent.

Ogbah during his tenure with the Browns was elite at swatting passes down at the of scrimmage, and with the division’s quarterbacks getting younger, he could find more success in doing so if he returned to the Browns. Out of everyone on this list, I think Ogbah has the best chance to come back and contribute as a long term piece of the Browns plan.