3 free agent Buccaneers the Cleveland Browns should consider
By Greg Newland
With Tom Brady retiring, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be resetting their roster meaning a ton of free agents will be available to the Cleveland Browns.
With Tom Brady officially retiring (for the second time), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely go into a rebuilding mode for a few years. They had been making things work from a cap perspective the last few years to keep the team competitive, but it’s likely time to start cleaning things up and moving on from guys who are overpaid.
The Cleveland Browns don’t have unlimited funds this offseason, but they also should have the ability to make a splash singing or two. Multiple restructures and a league-wide cap increase should turn their negative $14.6 million cap in 2023 positive fairly quickly.
With so many guys from Tampa likely moving on, here are three guys that would make a ton of sense for Andrew Berry to bring to Cleveland.
3 free agent Buccaneers the Cleveland Browns should consider
Free Agent No. 3 – Kyle Rudolph, TE
Andrew Berry made a huge statement last offseason when he signed David Njoku to a monster extension when the production hadn’t really been there. There’s no doubt Njoku has the talent, but we are still waiting to see the consistent play making him worthy of the $54.8 million deal he received.
The missing piece has continued to be a blocking tight end that also has the ability to catch the ball when needed. Harrison Bryant showed promise as a rookie, but I’m not sold her is ready to be a second tight end in the NFL yet, especially in a system where that position is on the field a good number of plays.
Kyle Rudolph makes a ton of sense to me. First and foremost, he has a history with Kevin Stefanski in Minnesota. Rudolph knows this offense and it would be an easy transition for him.
Secondly, Rudolph would be the perfect fit for this offense. You could see him on the field for a ton of offensive snaps and give Stefnaski the flexibility to move Njoku out to wide receiver more and more.
At age 33, Rudolph doesn’t have a lot of life left in the tank, but the Cincinnati, OH native should finish his career in his home state where he can still make a difference.