Cleveland Browns are now a destination for free agents

The Cleveland Browns were never a team free agents clamored to come play for, but now that has changed with the recent trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson.

I would like to preface this entire piece by addressing the Deshaun Watson situation. I completely and fully understand the severity of the allegations against Watson. I feel for those victims and I feel for anyone else who has been affected by this news. If you no longer wish to be a fan of the Cleveland Browns, I completely get that as you have every right to not root for this team, no matter how long you’ve been a fan.

With all that said, for the purposes of this article, it will be strictly from a football standpoint.

In years past, not many NFL free agents were lining up to play for the Browns. The past couple of offseasons under Andrew Berry, Cleveland was able to land some top free agents including John Johnson III, Jack Conklin, Troy Hill, and Jadeveon Clowney to name a few. Now, Berry has pulled off the miraculous deal to land Watson and completely change the landscape of this franchise for years to come.

As Brad Stainbrook, who covers the Browns for 24/7 sports, The OBR, and CBS Sports, said on Twitter, the landing of Deshaun Watson will have a similar effect on pending free agents moving forward. Players used to take less money in order to play with James and that will certainly be the case now that Watson is wearing orange and brown.

NFL insider and analyst Jordan Schultz has reported that the Browns and free agent wide receiver Will Fuller have mutual interest. Fuller and Watson were once teammates in Houston and were quite the formidable duo. In 33 games together, Watson found Fuller 147 times for 2,331 yards and 22 touchdowns. If you are a fan of the Browns, this information should have you salivating.

Dawg Pound Daily’s own Jacob Roach thinks that Fuller and the Browns could be a perfect fit together and he’s absolutely right. Fuller possesses the ability to speed down the field, something that has been desperately missing from the Browns offense over the last few years.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported that once the Browns were able to restructure the contract of newly acquired wide receiver Amari Cooper, they will likely look to re-sign Clowney and Jarvis Landry.

It appeared that Landry was not going to return to the Browns, but maybe now that it is Watson and not Baker Mayfield, he will consider coming back for less money. After all, he did want to remain in Cleveland, but the numbers didn’t match. There was a report from uSTADIUM, later confirmed by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, that Landry would have gone to Atlanta to play with Watson.

Clowney acknowledged that free agency would be mostly about money, but maybe now that Watson is on the team, Clowney will want to be teammates yet again with Watson. He was reportedly offered a two-year deal worth up to $24 million by the Browns, so maybe that will be good enough for him to run it back in The Land.

Berry has been a wizard in how he has managed the Browns cap space and has given the team better opportunities to land other top-name free agents. Now that Watson is on the team, many other superstar-caliber players could be inclined to join him.

At the end of the day, these are not the same old Cleveland Browns. Now, they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender for years to come.