When you trade away the best defensive player of a generation, the message sent to the locker room and fan base becomes painfully clear. For the Cleveland Browns, this 2026 season isn’t about fielding the best roster possible to win games. It’s about establishing the building blocks for sustained success in the future.
Two things are true following the Myles Garrett trade on June 1. The Browns’ elite defense took a significant step back, but the team as a whole is set up well for 2027 and beyond with the addition of 25-year-old edge defender Jared Verse and three draft picks, including a first-rounder next April.
Verse is already a two-time Pro Bowler in as many NFL seasons. He won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after being drafted No. 19 overall by the Rams in 2024. But he has 12 total sacks in 34 career games. Garrett notched 13 sacks during a span of four games last season.
Under new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, and with Verse stepping into the massive void left by Garrett, the Browns’ defense will undoubtedly look different. There’s a strong likelihood that fans will notice the team dialing up pressure in more exotic ways, rather than relying on that one dominant rusher off the edge who routinely forced double teams from opposing linemen and lightning-quick throws from quarterbacks.
Every player on the Browns' defense will have to raise their game to uphold the standard of the past decade. But in the trenches specifically, it starts with Verse and the team’s other two veteran pass rushers: Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire.
We’re about to dive deeper into Cleveland’s intriguing training camp battle for the fourth edge spot, a role that could produce one of the team’s biggest surprises of a rebuilding season. This is Part II of our Dawg Fight series, profiling 12 positional battles that could shape Todd Monken’s first year as head coach.
Part I featured the quarterbacks who left Monken craving more competition this summer. Here, let’s get into the group that will be tasked with chasing opposing QBs down.
The Dawg Fight at defensive end: Who has the EDGE?
The top of Cleveland’s depth chart at defensive end is about as ironclad as any on its current 90-man training camp roster. Verse immediately steps into the alpha role as the Browns’ unquestioned top edge defender, thanks in part to his prowess at stopping the run. Wright and McGuire should continue to split the lion’s share of snaps on the opposite side.
One of Cleveland’s most intriguing camp questions will be what happens behind those three veterans. Will the Browns keep four or five defensive ends? And after adding several undrafted rookies this spring, how many of them will stick around either on the 53-man roster or practice squad?
The No. 4 edge spot on this roster is about as unsettled as it gets entering camp, and it could take every practice and preseason game to declare a winner.
The top contenders for EDGE4
Logan Fano
- Why he can win the job: It’s no coincidence that the Browns made the older brother of Spencer Fano, their No. 9 overall draft pick this year, one of their priority rookie signings following the draft. He landed a three-year, $3.1 million contract with $310,000 in guarantees. He’ll need to prove himself, especially on special teams, but the family ties and contract alone make him a projected favorite for the fourth spot on the depth chart.
- Why he can lose the job: Injury history. Fano’s path to the NFL included three ACL injuries over the span of seven years. He was also limited during the pre-draft process this past winter due to a hamstring issue, which likely led to him going undrafted. It’s worth noting that the Browns passed on drafting Fano with their late seventh-round pick, which teams typically use to reserve the top potential UDFA on their board. He may have a clear path to the 53-man roster, but he’s certainly not a roster lock.
Julian Okwara
- Why he can win the job: Experience. Unlike his competition, Okwara is a former top-70 draft pick who’s appeared in 51 career NFL games. He also has valuable special teams experience, logging two separate seasons with over 100 snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
- Why he can lose the job: Age. Now entering his age-29 season, and coming off a lost 2025 season due to injury, Okwara may not fit the Browns’ preferred timeline. If the younger talent on the roster shines through during camp, Okwara’s contract is extremely cuttable, as there’s no guaranteed money on his one-year deal.
Khordae Sydnor
- Why he can win the job: His contract. Similar to Fano, the Browns signed Sydnor to a three-year rookie contract, which could keep him under team control beyond the 2029 season as a future restricted free agent. They also guaranteed $275,000 at signing, making him more than just a dark horse in this race.
- Why he can lose the job: Special teams invisibility. As the fourth or fifth edge, you have to be versatile. Entering camp, we know Sydnor has a ton of upside as a pure speed rusher off the edge. What we don’t know is how well he can compete against the run and on special teams. Sydnor played over 200 combined special teams snaps with Vanderbilt and Purdue, per PFF. He logged 148 of them on the field goal block team. He’ll need to show more this summer to justify a spot on the initial 53-man roster.
Tyreak Sapp
- Why he can win the job: Draft pedigree. Of the many undrafted rookies the Browns will have on the field during training camp this summer, Sapp might be the most surprising. He was expected to be a Day 3 pick. Draft guru Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked him as the No. 27 edge on his board and gave him a sixth-round grade. He was a core special teams player for the Florida Gators and had one season of defensive production, 2024, that’s impossible to ignore. He notched seven sacks and 13 tackles for loss in 13 games that season.
- Why he can lose the job: He had a quiet spring. Sapp was one of the Browns’ first UDFA signings, but he hasn’t been a major part of the conversation since April. He also didn’t fetch the same healthy guarantees as some of his new teammates. According to Spotrac, only $60,000 of Sapp’s three-year contract was fully guaranteed at signing. He remains a player to watch this summer, but he feels more like a sleeper than a favorite for a roster spot entering camp.
The X-factors that could make or break the EDGE4 competition
- Special teams: In what looks to be a nip-and-tuck race on paper, special teams versatility could end up being the deciding factor between the final 53, practice squad, or getting waived altogether.
- Run defense: Situational speed rushers are a dime a dozen in the NFL. All-around defensive ends who can set the edge on all three downs and effectively contain the rush are worth their weight in gold. Cleveland struggled at times against the run in 2025. Rushing the football on offense and stopping the run on defense figure to be core principles of Monken’s program in Year 1.
- Pass rush repertoire: The Browns lost about 16 sacks per year when they agreed to trade Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams. They also parted with a player who could dominate from every spot along the line of scrimmage. The ability to rush from different angles and postures, and potentially move inside on occasion, could be as important as a player’s prowess at taking a straight line to the QB this summer.
What the Browns want from their depth defensive ends
Upside will be critical in this competition. While the ability to contribute on special teams will be a must, the Browns’ No. 4 defensive end will have to be a player capable of being a surprise contributor on defense, similar to what safety Ronnie Hickman gave the team late during the 2023 season.
The elephant in the room is that the Browns agreed to trade Garrett on June 1 after passing on signing a veteran in free agency. They also passed on drafting an edge defender with one of their 10 draft picks. Cleveland came close to adding free agent A.J. Epenesa on a one-year deal, but the team surprisingly bailed on finalizing the contract due to concerns over a physical.
The Browns, of course, could still add to this group via the trade market, free agency, or the waiver wire, so time will tell if this position battle comes down to the fourth or fifth edge spot. But based on the current 90-man roster, the coaching staff will need to see more than just a great situational pass rusher, or a valuable special teamer. They need the full package, and it could take the final preseason games for that to sort itself out.
Prediction: Cleveland’s EDGE4 spot is Logan Fano’s to lose
Whether he wins the job outright and mixes in immediately behind Wright and McGuire, or if he slides to the No. 5 spot following an external addition, Fano has the inside track entering training camp.
Fano may not have the explosiveness off the edge that NFL scouts look for, and his injury history is impossible to ignore. What he does have is a trait that should endear him to Monken almost immediately once the pads come on this summer — a relentless motor.
As Brugler wrote in his 2026 draft preview, the adversity that Fano has faced throughout his journey to the NFL should serve him well at this level.
“Fano has decent burst and play strength, but effort — when channeled correctly — is his best quality versus both the pass and run. Though not a first-round prospect like his younger brother, he has talent worth developing.”
If an injury crops up that limits his reps in team drills during training camp, players like Sydnor and Sapp could easily step up and steal Fano’s spot. But when the pads come on in a few weeks, this should be Fano’s job to lose.
Fight card: EDGE4
- Leader: Logan Fano
- Challengers: Julian Okwara, Khordae Sydnor, Tyreak Sapp
- Projected winner: Fano
- Confidence level: 4 out of 5
- Decision date: The final day of training camp
The next Dawg Fight: Nickel corner (Wednesday, July 8)
Add us as a preferred source on Google