4 defensive sleepers Cleveland Browns should sign in 2021 free agency

3. Gareon Conley, Cornerback

Greedy Williams is a better cornerback than people remember, but the faith in him seems to be wavering some. Of course, that’s what happens when a player misses four games during his rookie season than the entire campaign the following year.

While it is concerning that his shoulder proved to be so bothersome, Williams is an effective corner and shouldn’t be given up on yet. Having said that, the Browns also shouldn’t head into 2020 with their cornerback corps as is.

There’s a strong chance they will draft a corner early, but they could also elect to go with a veteran in free agency as well. There’s still a chance they bring back either Kevin Johnson or Terrance Mitchell, or they could go a different way and bring in former Houston Texan and Oakland Raider Gareon Conley.

Born roughly 50 miles south of Cleveland in Massillon, Conley attended Ohio State and was a first-round pick of the Raiders in 2017. They ended up trading him in 2019 after it became apparent Jon Gruden hated every player his predecessor added. Conley played just eight games for Houston and then missed the 2020 season due to an injury.

There’s no denying that Conley has yet to live up to his draft status but he still would provide the Browns with a player who had 31 career games (and 26 starts) under his belt. That kind of experience could be beneficial to their cornerback group, especially if they do continue to have issues with players missing time.