There have been several players that have recently been released by their teams in the league and the Cleveland Browns would be smart to consider them
The NFL silly season, also known as the offseason, has started with a bang this past week and the Cleveland Browns should continue to be very active as the free agency officially gets underway this coming week.
They’ve already gotten an early start as they traded for wide receiver Amari Cooper of the Dallas Cowboys this weekend. It’s a big move for the team as they are looking to upgrade their wide receiver room.
In other NFL news, the Seattle Seahawks traded away their franchise quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers agreed to come back to them on a new contract deal. Carson Wentz got traded to the Washington Commanders after only spending one season with the Indianapolis Colts.
Then the latest news of Deshaun Watson, the quarterback of the Houston Texans having the criminal charges against him dismissed, has now made the possibility of him being traded much more of the news story in the last 24 hours, and the Browns have been linked to that possibility as well.
So, while all of this makes for a lot of discussion amongst fans, there have been several players released from other teams that the Browns would certainly have to consider when trying to make their team better going forward. Let’s look at several of these players and discuss how they’d do if the Browns signed them.
Player No. 1 Cleveland Browns should target: Jordan Hicks LB, Arizona Cardinals
Jordan Hicks was released this past week to save the Arizona Cardinals $6.5 million in cap space. He’s 30 years old and has been in the league since 2015 after being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles out of Texas in the third round. He’s had a highly productive career with both the Cardinals and Eagles. In the last three seasons in Arizona, he’s combined for 384 tackles — so yes, he’s a tackling machine.
Cleveland may lose linebacker Anthony Walker in free agency so the team trying to lock up a player of Hicks abilities would be a solid move. Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu Koramoah had a great first year with the Browns after the team drafted him last year. Having a veteran player like Hicks join Owusu-Koramoah on the defense would be stellar. The Browns also wouldn’t have to break the bank to bring him to town.
Player No. 2 Cleveland Browns should target: DaeSean Hamilton, WR, Denver Broncos
He’s not your household name in the NFL, but DaeSean Hamilton, who was recently released by the Denver Broncos could have a resurgence with a team like the Browns. He suffered an ACL injury last year before the season starting so missed all of 2021, but previously, the former Penn State player, who was drafted in 2018 had some decent seasons. He’s totaled 81 catches and 833 years plus five touchdowns in the three years with the Broncos.
With the trade for Armani Cooper from the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland can focus on finding receivers that could be more of a supporting cast. They’ll likely still try to draft a couple of new wide receivers in the draft coming up in April but adding a player like Hamilton wouldn’t cost the team much at all. He was due $2 million if he had played out his Broncos contract.
Player No. 3 Cleveland Browns should target: Trey Flowers, DE, Detroit Lions
Trey Flowers, the veteran defensive end was released this past week to save the Lions over $10 million in cap space while they take a hit in dead cap money of over $12.8 million.
Flowers started his career in New England with the Patriots. He signed a huge deal worth $90 million to move over to the Lions in 2019. He had been a regular starter with the Patriots and then the Lions, but has been sidelined off and on over the last two seasons because of injuries.
He’s still only 28 years old and has several more productive years ahead. With the possibility that the Browns lose out on keeping their own defensive end Jadeveon Clowney in town because he’s a free agent as well and looking for a big contract, bringing a player like Flowers would be a good replacement.
Between 2016 and 2019 he registered 28 sacks and 215 tackles. He also forced seven fumbles and had 80 quarterback hits. Clowney had a great season pairing up with Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett and I’d suspect Flowers would too.
Player No. 4 Cleveland Browns should target: Terrance Mitchell, CB, Houston Texans
A very familiar name to the Cleveland Browns is Terrance Mitchell, the cornerback from the Houston Texans who was recently released after only playing for one season with them. Mitchell played three seasons in Cleveland where he recorded 124 tackles with two interceptions. The Browns will need to find a couple of cornerbacks that could step in for their cornerback starters Greg Newsome II and Denzel Ward.
Mitchell has been a consistent starter over the last three NFL seasons. He was originally drafted by the Dallas Cowboys before moving over to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016. In 2017, he started nine games for the Chiefs. He signed a three-year deal in 2018 with the Browns.
Bringing players back to Cleveland isn’t often very typical of the organization but in this case, the value and depth Mitchell could provide the defensive secondary would be a big benefit to the Browns.
Player No. 5 Cleveland Browns should target: Rodger Saffold, G, Tennessee Titans
Rodger Saffold, the Cleveland native, and former NFL Pro Bowler was recently released by the Titans to save over $10 million in cap space. He’s been in the league for 12 seasons and is 33 years old so those are two things that may stand out right away. He won’t likely play for too many more seasons however he could help out on a team like the Browns who are always looking to add depth due to the injuries that have seemed to plague this part of the team.
Safford graduated from Bedford High School, a school in the Cleveland region, and then went on to play at Indiana before he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 2010 draft. It could be a bit of a homecoming and a final go-away couple of seasons if the Browns and Saffold were to have a mutual interest in a deal. He’s been a regular starter so depending on the Browns needs going into the regular season, he could become a starter in Cleveland or be a very dependable and experienced backup on the line.
You can never have too many linemen in this league and bringing a player of Saffold’s talents would be a tremendous get, despite his age. Again, it goes against some of Cleveland’s organizational habits in finding players but I think it would a cool touch that the Cleveland native could return home to play for his hometown team, if the Browns were game.