One free agent who can change the Cleveland Browns defense

The Cleveland Browns will be looking at free agents to help bolster this roster during the offseason. Johnathan Hankins should be at the top of that list.

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry will be busy helping revamp this roster over the offseason. The one area of major concern is along the defensive line where the production just wasn’t there in 2022. Myles Garrett was terrific, but nobody stepped up to help him.

That’s especially true when it came to the run game. Cleveland defensive tackles were being blown off the ball on just about every snap. Taven Bryan and Jordan Elliot are penciled in as starters but honestly, they’re rotational players at best.

The Browns also will be working on limited resources this offseason as they won’t have the salary cap room that they have had in previous years or the draft capital to take someone who will have an instant impact. But there is one player in free agency who won’t cost a ton of money and would surely help stop the run for this Browns defense.

Which free agent could shore up the Cleveland Browns run defense?

Former Buckeye and 10-year NFL vet Johnathan Hankins is still getting it done at a high level in this league. Hankins was traded from the Raiders to the Cowboys this past season as he helped anchor the Dallas defensive line in the playoffs and even had a sack on Tom Brady in the Wildcard round.

He won’t give you 40-plus snaps a game, but you can expect him to play in running situations and on early downs. A mammoth human being standing at 6-foot-2 and 340 pounds, Hankins is exactly the type of player the Browns need to clog the middle, take on double teams and free up other players to make plays around him.

Hankins shouldn’t cost much as he’s started to bounce around teams at the end of his NFL career, but he definitely should have one more season of good football left in the tank. And if the Browns are serious about winning next season, Hankins is a player that needs to be on their list of potential free agents to bring into Berea.