3 early overreactions from the Cleveland Browns offseason

1. The Browns defense will be elite

Last but not least, we have the Cleveland Browns defense.

Again, they've made some excellent changes to that side of the ball and many were necessities. They decided first to move on from Joe Woods and while it was time for a change, it was clear he didn't have the best weapons to work with. That's why they've made sure to re-tool the roster for Jim Schwartz.

Cleveland added Dalvin Tomlinson, Za'Darius Smith, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Juan Thornhill, and Rodney McLeod who will all either be starters or at least heavy in the rotation. Each of these athletes is very talented but that's five new pieces to a defense — as well as a new scheme and play-caller.

Even so, there's a strong sense that the defense will be vastly improved from the start. Ideally, they will be good this season but expectations should be tempered early. Playing defense in the NFL is all about communication and we saw in 2022 how quickly things can fall apart if everyone isn't on the same page.

Cleveland will aim to get their defenders in unison but so much change will take time. Expecting them to be the 1985 Chicago Bears when they face the Bengals in Week 1 might be a bit of an overreaction.

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