Even without Myles Garrett, the Cleveland Browns still have one of the strongest defenses in the NFL on paper. New defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg has more than enough talent to work with, but depth can always be improved.
If the Browns want to be nitpicky, they could use more help at linebacker. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has already been ruled out for the season, and Cleveland could use more help behind starters Carson Schwesinger and Quincy Williams.
Perhaps general manager Andrew Berry might want to take a page out of Aaron Schatz's book. In his latest article, he argued that the Cincinnati Bengals should make a run at free agent linebacker Bobby Okereke. He may have been looking at the wrong Ohio team, though.
"A lot of Bengals fans are interested in Bobby Wagner, but it's hard to say how much he still has in the tank at age 36," Schatz said. "A better choice might be Okereke, formerly of the Giants. He's much more of a run stopper than a pass coverage guy, but so is Wagner at this point, and Okereke is less likely to be in decline as he turns 30 in late July. And like Wagner, Okereke is a high-character locker room influence, as he was the Giants' nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award last season."
Bobby Okereke would be a solid pickup for the Browns
Okereke is older than Devin Bush, who moved on from Cleveland in free agency, but he's also a volume tackler. He's coming off a season in which he recorded 108 tackles, the fourth-most in a single season in Giants history. Per Pro Football Focus, that was the ninth-most tackles among linebackers.
The former Giants stopper logged 10 pressures, 16 run stops, and the seventh-most snaps among linebackers (1,104). While he might be better suited against the run at this point in his career, he drew the 24th-highest coverage grade (65.2) and played 623 snaps in coverage, the second-most among 88 linebackers.
The Browns replaced Bush with Williams, who's well-versed in Rutenberg's system. They also drafted Alabama's Justin Jefferson, but he's more of a work in progress and might be better suited for special teams and a rotational role at this point in his career.
Spotrac projects Okereke's market value at $12.1 million a year. That said, the Browns could probably get him at a more reasonable price, given that he's still unsigned this deep into the offseason.
The Bengals have invested heavily in their defense this offseason. That has long been their Achilles heel, so that's definitely a bit of a scary thought for the rest of the division.
Okereke would help both teams, but he makes a lot of sense for the Browns. He's a proven veteran who could bolster a position of need at a fair price.
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