Cleveland Browns: 4 players of interest who escaped franchise tag

2. Keanu Neal, Safety

Last season, the Cleveland Browns tried to use a Band-Aid approach to the safety position — with one eye on the future. They signed two veteran free agents in Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo who were supposed to mentor their second-round pick Grant Delpit.

Unfortunately, Delpit tore his Achilles in training camp and never got to play during his rookie campaign. This thrust Sendejo into a larger role than he was expected to handle which had its own ill-effects. As for Joseph, he was what they expected — serviceable but not available for every game.

Both of them are free agents but there’s some good news. The Browns should have Delpit back this season and they also landed Ronnie Harrison in a trade with Jacksonville after losing their rookie last year. Harrison struggled with injuries as well, playing in just 11 games but when he was on the field, he was their best safety.

Pairing him with Delpit can be good but the Browns like to employ three safeties and with the struggles they have had at the position, they need a minimum of three quality players. Enter Keanu Neal, a former first-round pick out of Florida.

Neal spent the past five seasons in Atlanta but the Falcons elected not to tag him despite him bouncing back from two injury-riddled campaigns to record 100 tackles and a pick for the Dirty Birds in 2020. His star has lost some of its shine but Neal can still be an effective weapon in the secondary and would help turn what looks now to be a potential weakness into a strength.