3 Free agents Cleveland Browns have to re-sign for 2021

2. Cody Parkey

Yes, a kicker might be the least exciting position on the team and there’s going to be plenty of people who believe Cody Parkey shouldn’t be on this list. Their reason would be his missed extra points and, of course, the fame he gained for his unfortunate ‘double doink’ misses. Having said that, Parkey was actually really good in 2021.

Signed originally as a member of the practice squad — Cleveland took advantage of the new rules that extended squads and allowed veterans to be on the practice unit as well — Parkey was elevated to the active roster in Week 2 when Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski decided to pull the plug on Austin Seibert (In a related note — don’t draft kickers).

Parkey brought stability to the position and had one of the best seasons of his seven-year career. He finished with a completion percentage of 86.4 and was good on 19-of-22 kicks. He did have some hiccups with extra points, missing four of his 47 tries but overall, he was a massive improvement over Seibert.

On top of that, Parkey was 3-of-3 on his field goals and 8-of-8 on extra points in the postseason, meaning he hit the ones that mattered most. For that reason, he should be brought back in 2021. Having said that, Cleveland would be wise to also bring in competition but if Parkey ends up being the ‘worst-case scenario- option, they would still be doing fine in the field goal department.