Ranking the Cleveland Browns initial offseason moves by order of importance

The Cleveland Browns have been making a flurry of moves this offseason. Here is how they rank by order of importance to their chances of success in 2020.

So far this offseason, the Cleveland Browns have been the most active team in the NFL. They started things off with a flurry of activity, coming to terms with tight end Austin Hooper and offensive tackle Jack Conklin right away.

Each one of those signings filled a massive hole, and helps the Browns as they look to finally put together a decent season in 2020. While the work on the field still has to be done, they have giving rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski all the weapons he needs to compete.

With the first wave of free agency now behind us, we can pause and look over the moves made by first-year general manager Andrew Berry. We do just that here and rank all the team’s moves so far by their order of importance.

8. Signed B.J. Goodson

Fans were frustrated when they learned Joe Schobert wasn’t coming back, but it wasn’t exactly a shock. For more than a year, every report suggested that the player and the team were not actively negotiating any extension.

Not long after the Dawg Pound came to terms with his departure, Christian Kirksey was released. Unlike Schobert, he was under contract but the team wasn’t willing to pay his salary, especially given his recent durability concerns.

Cleveland will now turn to two second-year players in Mack Wilson and Sione Takitaki to carry the majority of the load. While they will be the primary linebackers, B.J. Goodson should get a lot of work on early downs — or any three-linebacker set.

Goodson is a talented linebacker in run defense and brings some much-needed veteran depth to the table. It wasn’t the flashiest move but it was a smart one by Andrew Berry.