After releasing Juan Thornhill and opting against using any draft picks on a safety, the Browns seemed poised to tap into the remaining free agent market to add depth to the safety position behind Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman. With the release of Thornhill and Rodney McLeod's retirement, the Browns lost nearly 1,000 snaps at the safety position from a year ago.
To address this, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reports the Browns are signing former Steelers safety Damontae Kazee to a contract.
Prior to the Kazee signing, the immediate safety depth consisted of Trey Dean and Chris Edmonds, who have combined for two total NFL appearances. Cleveland seems content to give Hickman an expanded role after a few years of being a depth piece, but it was obvious there was still a hole on the roster behind him.
Browns add safety Damontae Kazee to bolster secondary depth
Kazee is entering his ninth year in the league and his age-32 season after spending the last three seasons with the Steelers. He was originally a fifth-round pick of the Falcons back in 2017 out of San Diego State and quickly became a full-time starter in his second year in the league, when he led the NFL with seven interceptions. Kazee had a one-year stop in Dallas before signing with Pittsburgh in 2022.
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He has spent an overwhelming majority of his snaps at the free safety position and gives the team another option in the high hole alongside Hickman. In Jim Schwartz's heavy single-high, man-coverage scheme, the free safety is often tasked with reading the quarterback's eyes and breaking on the ball as the last line of defense. This will often put Kazee in positions where he doesn't have to do as much thinking and can rely on pure instincts to make plays on the football.
At this stage in free agency, teams aren't going to be able to sign players built to step in as day one starters. Kazee did not grade well per PFF last year, posting a 58.8 grade, which is good for 118th out of 171 safeties. However, he's a seasoned veteran with a decent track record, who has clear value to a Browns team that lacked certainty at the safety position beyond the starters. At the very least, the Browns added an experienced option to a room that lost two veterans.