3 Free agents the Cleveland Browns should go grab post NFL Draft
By John Suchan
The dust is settling now after this past weekend's NFL Draft where the Cleveland Browns drafted seven players. Despite the team not having a draft pick until the third round, they still managed to walk away from the event with some excellent potential NFL talent.
The Browns drafted some big talent that included wide receiver Cedric Tillman from Tennessee, offensive lineman Dawand Jones of Ohio State, and defensive tackle Siaki Ika of Baylor.
Ika stands at 6-foot-3 and a solid 335 pounds. Jones comes in at 6-foot7 and is a beast at 385 pounds. Tillman stands at 6-foot3 and is a sturdy 215 pounds. That's a lot of pounds and height added to the Browns and is something that the team needed to be competing in the AFC North.
They also drafted a very talented edge rusher in Isaiah McGuire from Missouri, who will have a chance to play in a backup role to current All-Pro Myles Garrett. The Browns also drafted a second Ohio State player in Luke Wypler, a center who will potentially have a long career in Cleveland. He was the Buckeyes' everyday starting center and has the skill set to be a very good player in the league.
In addition, Cleveland drafted quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson of UCLA and cornerback Cameron Mitchell of Northwestern. Both will add depth to positions that are already very strong. All in all, it was a good weekend for a Browns team looking for continuity and some extra wins come this next season.
Even with that, they could still look to grab a few more free agents that are still waiting in the wings. Let's look at three players that make a lot of sense to bring to Cleveland now.
Browns FA target No. 3: Jerick McKinnon, RB
We've discussed bringing Jerick McKinnon to Cleveland a lot over the past couple of months. This move just makes sense for many reasons. Cleveland isn't bringing back Kareem Hunt, who himself is a free agent. They need to replace Hunt's talent at catching the football out of the backfield and Mckinnon does that well — probably even better than Hunt ever did, for that matter.
In McKinnon''s career, one that started with the Minnesota Vikings back in 2014, he's totaled 244 receptions for 1,856 yards and 16 touchdowns. Last season, for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs he caught 56 footballs for 512 yards and nine touchdowns.
Cleveland didn't draft a running back over the weekend as some had speculated they would do. Considering that Hunt will not return, the Browns need some more veteran presence in the backfield. Second-year player Jerome Ford may get the secondary role behind Nick Chubb but there are a lot of questions on that subject.