Days before their preseason opener, the Cleveland Browns don’t appear to be comfortable with their edge at defensive end.
The good news? It’s one of their healthiest position groups after what has been an injury-ridden first 13 days of training camp. The bad news is that, behind their top trio of Jared Verse, Alex Wright, and Isaiah McGuire, there are currently no proven producers for that No. 4 spot in the rotation.
It’s now pretty late in the game, but general manager Andrew Berry appears poised to address that problem. And based on the team’s latest workout, he clearly has a type in mind.
Per the NFL’s transaction wire, the Browns hosted 33-year-old veteran Za’Darius Smith for a workout ahead of Saturday’s preseason opener against the Chicago Bears. Smith was a late free agent signing by the Philadelphia Eagles last season and played in five games before abruptly retiring due to personal reasons.
The Eagles removed Smith from their reserve/retired list in June, clearing the way for him to seek a return this season as an unrestricted free agent. Smith was with the Browns for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, though Cleveland traded him to Detroit at the 2024 trade deadline with the team in a tailspin following Deshaun Watson’s first Achilles tear.
How much Smith has left in the tank entering his age-34 season remains to be seen, but after hosting Jadeveon Clowney for a visit prior to the start of training camp, Berry appears to be targeting an older veteran to pair with his young group of pass rushers.
Za'Darius Smith could help the Browns fill a sneaky roster need ahead of the 2026 season
As ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi put it, Berry has been “scouring options to find a fourth edge rusher to round out the defense’s rotation.” The Browns really have themselves to blame for being in this spot, though.
While the defensive line overall has been ravaged by injuries this summer, the edge group has been healthy and stacking practices. The only issue is that the group behind Verse, Wright, and McGuire has been underwhelming over the first two-plus weeks of camp.
Saturday’s preseason game could help determine the pecking order, but based on the team’s unofficial depth chart that was released on Wednesday, the battle for the No. 4 edge spot appears to be down to Julian Okwara and undrafted rookies Logan Fano and Khordae Sydnor.
As a seventh-year pro, Okwara has the edge right now based purely on experience. But he hasn’t yet played a snap for the Browns, and he never appeared in a game for Cleveland in 2025 after picking up a rib injury during the preseason. At this point, both Fano and Sydnor project more as depth edge rushers and special teams contributors than clear camp risers seriously contending for a part-time role.
Given their established talent at the top of the depth chart, the Browns would only need a rotational role from Smith. He had a couple of sacks and averaged about 26 defensive snaps per game for the Eagles last year. His familiarity with a number of Cleveland’s defensive starters would help a great deal with a signing this late in camp.
Cleveland’s trio of Verse, Wright, and McGuire do have one thing in common — they’ll all enter the 2026 regular season at the age of 25. The Browns are clearly prioritizing a true veteran presence in that room, and in that light, Smith’s workout is one Browns fans shouldn't gloss over.
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