Cleveland Browns: 4 veteran free agents to fill 4 biggest needs
Here are four veterans the Cleveland Browns need to sign
The Cleveland Browns saw some tremendous success in 2020. For the first time in a long time, they do not have too many positions of need going into the offseason. However, now is no time to get complacent. The Browns need to be aggressive this offseason by continuing to acquire talent in preparation for a deep run in the 2021 playoffs.
According to Spotrac, the Browns have the 10th most cap room in the NFL with just over $29.5 million to spend. This is definitely enough money to go out and get some premier free agents. But there is a major caveat. The Browns need to hold a decent amount of money to extend some of the players they already have.
Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, Wyatt Teller, and Denzel Ward should all receive contract extensions from the front office since they are all core players. And these players are not going to be cheap to keep around. Cleveland also has decisions to make, in the next year or two, on some players who are a little less integral to the team like Rashard Higgins, David Njoku, Chris Hubbard, Sheldon Richardson, Larry Ogunjobi, B.J. Goodson, Ronnie Harrison, and Terrance Mitchell. Needless to say, that $29.5 million could shrink in the blink of an eye.
The Browns’ four biggest needs are as follows: a wide receiver with speed who can play in the slot, an edge rusher to play opposite Myles Garrett, a linebacker who excels in coverage, and a defensive back who can cover in the slot. It may be wise to select a more financially frugal option at a couple of these positions rather than using a ton of the cap space or a high draft pick.
Here is a player to consider signing at each of the positions of need that the Browns could sign for relatively cheap.
4. Willie Snead IV, WR
Willie Snead IV is the youngest player on this list at 28. He has spent the last couple of seasons in Baltimore catching passes from Lamar Jackson. Snead caught 33 passes for 432 yards and three touchdowns last season. Snead is beginning to approach the age where wide receivers start to decline, but he could still provide a lot of value to the Browns.
Cleveland had a pretty good receiving core in 2020. Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, and Odell Beckham Jr led the Browns in receiving yards on the season. Landry’s skill and fit in the offense needs no explanation and Higgins’ chemistry led to a lot of team success last season.
The Browns’ good receiving core does lack one thing and that is someone who can take short, shallow routes the distance. OBJ was supposed to be that guy, but after tearing his ACL last season it’s hard to imagine him coming back and being 100 percent of the player he was before the injury. Also, trade rumors are constantly flying around suggesting that the Browns will trade Beckham.
With all of this uncertainty surrounding OBJ, it makes sense to bring in a backup plan at his position. Snead and Beckham are not the same players by any means but if Beckham is not able to return to the electric receiver he was or if he is not on the team next season, Snead could do enough to fill the hole.
Snead has been a reliable slot receiver since he entered the NFL in 2014. He went undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft and was actually given his first shot in Cleveland before he was waived and eventually saw his first in-game action in New Orleans for the Saints.
Snead is not the fastest wide receiver by any means, but he makes up for that lack of speed with his shiftiness in the open field. Snead is hard to bring down and is good a racking up yards after the catch.
If the Browns want to save some money at wide receiver next season, it would be smart to give Willie Snead a call to see if he wants to come back to Cleveland where he was given his first shot in the NFL.