3 biggest offseason needs for the Cleveland Browns
By Greg Newland
The Cleveland Browns have room for more talent
With the Cleveland Browns 2020 season-ending, it is now time to turn the page and head into the offseason. But before that, let’s take a second to be thankful for what the Browns organization gave us in a year that was so challenging because of COVID-19.
Cleveland’s football team gave us an 11-win regular season, first playoff appearance since 2002, and first playoff win since 1994. Not only that, Kevin Stefanski is the long-term answer in Cleveland at head coach.
While this roster has a lot of young talent to build on, there is certainly room for improvement. The Browns have one more year of heavy spending on all positions other than quarterback, so here are three of their biggest needs to focus on for the 2021 offseason.
3. Linebacker
The Browns will be back to square one at linebacker with B.J. Goodson and Malcolm Smith out of contract after 2020. Both were strong veteran presences, but neither was spectacular on the field. The roster will be left with Sione Takitaki, Mack Wilson, and Jacob Phillips, all young linebackers drafted by the Browns.
Phillips has the most upside, but Takitaki and Wilson have both shown exactly who they are, and that is average to below-average NFL linebackers. Cleveland fine with one of them on the field, but they must find one more player with great talent.
Most fans hate the idea of drafting a linebacker at pick no. 26, but if the right guy is there, I would be totally for it. Look for general manager Andrew Berry to sign a veteran linebacker in free agency, as well as a mid-tier talent linebacker looking for his first big contract. The hope with this will be for them to overachieve. However, I would not expect Berry to draft a linebacker in the early rounds of the 2021 draft.