5 Free Agent Defensive Tackles Cleveland Browns could target in 2023
By John Suchan
Cleveland Browns target No.4: Daron Payne, DT Washington Commanders
Daron Payne’s name has been popping up in many conversations among Browns fans. However, while he’s a great ball player, his market value is really high, and won’t likely be a strong candidate to come to Cleveland.
Still, he got fans excited recently when he was “geeked” about a jersey swap with Amari Cooper who was on Payne’s team during their days at Alabama.
Feel like a lil kid I’m geeked ‼️ pic.twitter.com/nvk3XE2bF8
— Daron Payne (@94yne) January 1, 2023
Payne just finished up his most productive season with the Commanders as he finished with 11.5 sacks, 64 tackles, 18 tackles for losses, and 20 quarterback hits. He just completed his fifth season and will be looking to strike gold with his next deal, and could be looking to approach the $20 million mark with that type of production.
He’s progressively improved every season and the idea of giving a coach like Jim Schwartz a chance to mold a young upcoming 25-year-old seems like a great deal, but the cost might be too high for the Browns this offseason.
It certainly helps to have a player like Amari Cooper on the team and maybe that could factor into any decision made by all parties so we shall wait and see how things pan out.