How Adrian Clayborn’s release affects Cleveland Browns draft
By Nick Swanson
The Cleveland Browns 2021 NFL Draft might be altered after the release of Adrian Clayborn
With everyone focused on the 4pm ET franchise tag deadline on Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns were looking elsewhere. The team announced on Twitter that they have parted ways with former Super Bowl champion edge rusher, Adrian Clayborn.
Following the announcement, the first thought was “what are the Browns planning?” By cutting the edge rusher, the Browns save $3 million in cap for the upcoming free agency period but have become very thin at the position now. With free agency rapidly approaching and a limited budget, Cleveland may look towards the draft to address the need.
Clayborn finished the year with 3.5 sacks, 12 total tackles, a pass breakup and a forced fumble in 15 total appearances. Only making two starts, he was a rotational piece behind Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon. With both edge rushers after Garrett seemingly moving on, what options do the Browns have?
Cleveland finished the 2020 season with an 11-5 record. They currently hold the 26th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and have the assets to potentially move up. With improving the defense being the primary focus of the offseason, we could see the Browns use several of their nine draft picks on players to improve the defensive line alone.
The Browns draft capital include the 26th, 59th, 89th, 91st, 110th, 132nd, 170th, 212th, and the 252nd picks, per The Draft Network, in this years draft. With a lot of uncertainty following the college football season due to players opting out and strange schedules because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year is especially tough to gauge where players may land.
In this article we’ll take a look at an edge rusher that the Browns may target in each round of the draft. I’ve run several simulations and looked at various mock drafts to find which players are expected to land where. This is not a prediction as to who the Browns will select at each pick, this is just exploring potential options as a replacement for Clayborn.