Why the Browns are better with Dalvin Tomlinson than Dre'Mont Jones

The talk amongst Cleveland Browns fans was Dre'Mont Jones, the hometown kid who spent his first four years in Denver and was linked to Cleveland. That talk turned to shock and frustration as Jones signed with Seattle, leaving the team without either of the top two defensive tackle targets.

Late on Monday night, the Browns and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson agreed to a four-year, $57 million deal with $27.5 million guaranteed according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and confirmed by Mary Kay Cabot.

This is a big get of a big guy to fill a big need on this roster. In fact, this will work out better for the Browns rather than landing Jones for three different reasons.

Number one is the fact that Jones got a three-year deal worth $51.53 million with $23.5 coming in year one. That is an awfully steep price to pay for someone who can't defend the run well. He likely wouldn't have improved this defensive line much, considering Taven Bryan was graded higher a season ago.

Secondly, Tomlinson fits more of what the Browns need than Jones does. Tomlinson is a big body (6-3, 325 pounds) who can stuff the run and create pressure on quarterbacks. In 2022, while he only compiled 2.5 sacks, he had 14 pressures and 42 tackles, 20 of which were solo and three were for a loss.

Lastly, Tomlinson brings a veteran presence to this team both on and off the field. He can do his thing on the field while teaching some of the young guys how to conduct themselves. That part will be a major help.

Last season the Browns run defense was mostly nonexistent, which is why Andrew Berry made this move. Tomlinson gets to be paired with Myles Garrett, who will benefit greatly from this signing. Garrett will have more opportunities to bring the quarterback down as Tomlinson can also get in the backfield and wreak havoc.

Jones was the name most people were infatuated with, myself included, even after Javon Hargrave signed with the 49ers. After looking at the totality of this deal, I like the Tomlinson much more than I would have if Jones were to put pen to paper on the shores of Lake Erie.

Some will look at this and say that the Browns got desperate or overpaid for Tomlinson, but that neither one of those things would be accurate. Yes, Cleveland was linked to Jones and Hargrave, and no, neither of them signed, but those weren't the only two players that Berry had his eye on.

In fact, I had him on the list of free agent defensive tackles the Browns should target.

Just because a team misses on their alleged top targets does not mean they panicked and just signed whoever was left. Berry likely had several names he was targeting and saw what some of the other guys were asking for and then eventually receiving and decided to go on down the list.

Berry also addressed the defensive end position and signed Ogbonnia Okoronkwo to a three-year $19 million deal with $12.5 million guaranteed. Along with this, center, Ethan Pocic re-signed on a three-year deal, and linebacker, Sione Takitaki is coming back on a one-year deal.

All in all this was a good day for the Browns regardless if they didn't land the top two names on the board. Tomlinson is a better fit for this team than Jones, so this is a winning day overall.