With the 2026 NFL season set to kick off on September 9th, teams are scrambling to get their rosters set. With every franchise recently cutting their rosters down to 53 players, teams are now signing players that other clubs just moved on from.
The Cleveland Browns did that on Tuesday, signing veteran edge defender Sam Williams. Williams spent the last four years with the Dallas Cowboys, but was recently waived after training camp. He quickly lands on his feet in Cleveland, with an opportunity to contribute.
While it’s great that Williams has another opportunity, his addition to the Browns defense isn’t really inspiring for fans. Instead, Cleveland adding Williams is a reminder of how rough the team’s edge depth is.
Browns signing Sam Williams shows Cleveland’s desperation to address edge depth
Williams was a second-round pick by Dallas in 2022, and was once viewed as a promising young player. With four sacks as a rookie and 4.5 in his second season, the edge defender was progressing in the right direction. Unfortunately, ahead of a third season where he was expected to see a bigger role, Williams tore his ACL.
The knee injury kept the defender out all of the 2024 season, and when he returned in 2025, he only posted one sack. Still, the Cowboys gave him another chance, re-signing him this offseason, but Williams didn’t make it out of camp.
Now he joins a Cleveland team that should have a good defense, if their concerning depth isn’t tested. The lack of quality depth is especially prevalent on the defensive line. While the Browns have Jared Verse, who’s poised for a big year, they lost their starting edge defender on the other side in Alex Wright, who was lost for the season due to an Achilles injury.
That leaves Cleveland relying on an edge rotation of Verse, Isaiah McGuire, the recently acquired Derek Barnett, Mike Hall Jr., who’s expected to split time between defensive tackle and edge, and now Sam Williams. On paper, the group certainly leaves a lot to be desired, and that’s why the Browns have been trying to add to the group all offseason.
Time will tell if Cleveland did enough, but if it didn’t, it will be a long season for the Browns. The defense is expected to be the unit that keeps the team competitive, and it’s hard to have a good defense without a good defensive front.
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