The Cleveland Browns spent the initial phase of free agency addressing key areas of need on offense, with a clear emphasis on overhauling the trenches. Their defensive moves have been a bit more subtle since the start of the new league year, and their latest signing is a prime example.
The team announced the signing of defensive back Myles Bryant on Monday. The 28-year-old was originally an undrafted free agent of Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots in 2020 and spent four years in Foxboro and the previous two seasons with the Houston Texans.
Bryant could end up being more than just a blip on the offseason radar for the Browns in 2026. He’s played all over the defensive backfield, including safety, but the bulk of his experience has come at the nickel spot.
It's highly unlikely that Bryant enters training camp with the Browns' defensive starters, but he definitely has the chops to push third-year pro Myles Harden for the job this summer.
The Browns just improved a sneaky area of need with addition of Myles Bryant
Bryant grew into a full-time role with the Patriots before leaving New England in 2024 following Belichick’s ousting. He was more of a rotational depth piece during his two years in Houston, serving mostly as a box safety and slot corner in his 357 total defensive snaps for one of the NFL's best defenses in 2025.
Where he could really challenge Harden is in the run game, which was a problem area for the Browns last season. Bryant’s a bit smaller than Harden, but he’s made his mark in the league as a willing tackler. He’s missed more than five tackles in a season only once over his six years in the league, per Pro Football Focus, and has posted 11 or more run-stuffs in all but two of those seasons.
Harden, 24, has struggled in that department. He finished with 12 missed tackles and just 14 run stuffs in 2025.
That’s Bryant’s game, and the Browns may be looking to tap into those skills for a price that will barely register on their 2026 salary cap table. Bryant played on a one-year deal worth $1.7 million last year.
What the Myles Bryant signing means for former Browns draft pick Martin Emerson Jr.
While it’s natural for fans to wonder about the status of Martin Emerson Jr., Cleveland’s third-round draft pick in 2022 who remains unsigned and recently had a free-agent visit with the Texans, the Bryant move should be a non-factor there.
Emerson played almost 100 percent of his snaps as an outside cornerback prior to his Achilles injury last summer. According to PFF, Bryant has aligned as a true outside corner on just 301 of his career snaps, compared to 1,614 in the slot. So, again, this move means a lot more for Harden’s 2026 role than it does for Emerson’s potential to re-sign with the team.
As it stands, Harden projects as the Browns’ starting nickel, but the seventh-round pick quietly ranked 106th out of PFF’s 112 qualifying cornerbacks in 2025, placing him among the lowest-graded players on Cleveland’s defensive roster.
Those opinions certainly won’t sway the Browns one way or the other on Harden, but while he’s older and will likely sign a cheap deal for around the veteran minimum, Bryant could be much more than just an extra training camp body this summer.