The trade heard 'round the world took the Browns from having the best defender in the league to having some burning questions in the blink of an eye. While Jared Verse was an absolute coup to get included in the deal, some advanced metrics paint a troubling picture about the position group he's set to join.
Cleveland's defense in 2025 was top-tier. Jim Schwartz was a maniacal general at the controls of a war machine that destroyed everything in its path. Unfortunately for Schwartz and his band of brawlers, their offensive counterparts were grossly out of their depth. This led to a "wasted" label being affixed to a unit that deserved more flowers for their production.
Of course, Myles Garrett drew all the headlines, and for good reason. In breaking the single-season sack record and eventually being named Defensive Player of the Year, Garrett reached the pinnacle of every edge rusher's dreams — save for a Super Bowl ring. It might not be possible to replace someone like him. The more pressing matter, though, is the role opposite Verse — try as he might, he can't do it alone.
The Browns' edge rusher deficiency might've been masked by Myles Garrett
The spot opposite Myles Garrett all season was handled using a committee approach. Alex Wright played about 44 percent of Cleveland's defensive snaps while Isaiah McGuire notched 40 percent. Cameron Thomas rounded out the group with 29 percent. A recent deep dive into some advanced stats on the Browns' other defensive ends shows just how much heavy lifting Garrett was doing in Cleveland.
There were 159 edge defenders who rushed the passer at least 40 times last season. Among them, Alex Wright's pressure rate of 7.8 percent (courtesy of SIS) ranked 136th, while Isaiah McGuire's 11.2 percent fared marginally better at 92nd. Thomas has moved on, following former head coach Kevin Stefanski to Atlanta, but his 11.5 percent pressure rate doesn't indicate he would've moved the needle much either.
The good news is that Jared Verse stood out with a pressure rate of 17.5 percent, which placed 16th and only a little less than one percentage point behind Myles Garrett at 18.4 percent.
While many are expecting the same level of play from Wright and McGuire in 2026, the reality could be that we didn't realize exactly what their play was truly like in 2025 with Myles Garrett on the field. With teams using two and sometimes three blockers to neutralize Garrett on a play-by-play basis, you'd almost expect the other edge defenders to benefit from that. It simply wasn't the case.
The defense that was the backbone of the 2025 roster suffered two crushing blows. Minimizing the impact of Garrett, and to a lesser extent Schwartz, would be foolish.
The one silver lining is that there remain a handful of free agent edge rushers who could feasibly be added on modest deals to help the Browns in 2026.
Jadeveon Clowney is a familiar face to the Dawg Pound, and he was downright spectacular last year. His 18.3 percent pressure rate ranked 11th in the league, and he's waiting for a call. Ten-year veteran Leonard Floyd spent last season as a pupil of the Browns' new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg in Atlanta. Despite his age, he pressured the QB on 15.7 percent of his rushes last year, which was good for 32nd in the league. Then there's Preston Smith, another veteran who had a strong season with a 14.2 percent pressure rate in 2025.
The point is, there are options. If the Browns opt to stand pat, it might quickly become apparent that the rest of the defense wasn't nearly as good as it seemed. Such is life when a franchise opts to trade a force multiplier like Myles Garrett. While nothing will bring Garrett back through those doors, if Andrew Berry wants to minimize the sting of losing him, he ought to act now.
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