3 potential free agents Cleveland Browns should target covering all units

A look at 3 potential free agents the Cleveland Browns should target this March to improve their roster for the 2022 NFL season including one offensive player, one defensive player, and a special teams player

The legal tampering period for NFL Free Agency begins March 14th at 12:00 noon with the actual free agency period beginning at 4:00 pm March 16th. This will be the day the Cleveland Browns and general manager Andrew Berry begin improving the roster for 2022. The Browns like most teams that missed the playoffs this year have a wish list of players and positions they know they need to improve.

Cleveland will look to upgrade the wide receiver room, probably both in free agency and the draft, after the room produced little to speak of consistently in 2021. They could also use a nose tackle, a true run-stuffing defensive tackle to improve on a unit that was regularly pushed around last year.

Finally, there seems to be a more than good chance they change kickers (probably punters as well) after the special teams’ units were again a problem in 2021. Let’s look at three free agents the Browns should target to improve these areas.

Cleveland Browns free agency target no. 3, DJ Chark, WR Jacksonville

Wide receiver DJ Chark possesses several traits that the Browns could use in their receiving room, he has good size at 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds and possesses great speed. For the second year in a row, the Browns did not have a player that could really challenge a defense vertically.

Defenses were not afraid of their quarterback throwing it well consistently and they knew that no one could truly blow by them with their speed. The Browns had Anthony Schwartz but his injuries kept him to a really limited role in this offense. At the 2018 NFL combine Chark ran a 4.34 40-yard dash, which shows he possesses the speed needed to challenge defenses deep.

Now Chark only played in four games during the 2021 season and has missed several others due to injury. There is risk involved with this player but you may be able to get him at a much more team-friendly deal because of this, something Andrew Berry has excelled at. Charks’ best year as a pro came in 2019 when he had 73 catches for 1,008 yards and 8 touchdowns.

In Charks’ career, he has only fumbled the football one time with 147 career receptions in four years.  Chark may not be the best free agent on the market but he has great size, speed, and potentially paired with a potentially more team-friendly contract makes him a good target for Cleveland.