The Cleveland Browns have some tough decisions to make this offseason as far as who stays on the roster and who gets cut. The linebacker position is no exception to this rule.
The good news is that the Browns have an embarrassment of riches at the linebacker spot. The bad news is that not everyone can make the 53-man roster. It's a good problem to have, if we're being honest.
Some more bad news is that whoever the Browns opt not to keep, another team can come swooping in to snatch him up. The Cincinnati Bengals might already be doing that with one of Cleveland's linebackers.
Matt Fitzgerald of Stripe Hype, FanSided’s Bengals site, is zeroing in on Nathaniel Watson, a promising young linebacker for the Browns.
"Watson played only 55 snaps on defense as a rookie, per PFF, and was mostly tasked with special teams duties. He made 14 total tackles and looked like he might have room to climb the depth chart. However, the Browns drafted Carson Schwesinger in the second round, and he was just the Defensive Rookie of the Year. Cleveland also signed Quincy Williams in free agency this offseason, and selected Justin Jefferson (not the receiver) in the fifth round of the latest draft. It's anyone's guess as to who the Browns will keep amongst the trio of Watson, Winston Reid, and Easton Mascarenas-Arnold."
Bengals could be looking to steal away Browns linebacker
Fitzgerald made a great point. The Browns are loaded at linebacker while the Bengals are not, to put it nicely. He dove into that in his write-up as well, pointing out that Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. have not lived up to the hype so far and how the depth behind them is concerning.
"If Carter or Knight don't make a massive Year 2 leap, they'll be massive liabilities no matter how good the new-look defensive front is with Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe, and Jonathan Allen," Fitzgerald wrote. "Not that I'm writing off Knight or Carter, but the depth behind them is suspect to put it kindly. The fact that Oren Burks couldn't start over either of them is oh so alarming."
The Bengals desperately need to revamp their linebacker room and now they're looking at the Browns' roster to potentially help them do that. The good news is that, if the Bengals are desperate enough to land Watson, perhaps a trade could be worked out. That might not be Andrew Berry's favorite idea considering these two teams reside in the same division, but if the Browns don't think they'll keep Watson around, why not get something out of him?
This isn't to say that Watson won't stick around in Cleveland, though. The team clearly thinks highly of him despite him going in the sixth round two years ago. Even though he missed all of last season due to injury, the familiarity he has with the defense is valuable to the Browns and the young players on the roster.
Watson has the summer to try and prove he's worth keeping around but if the Browns pass on him, don't be surprised if a rival comes in to snatch him up.
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