Things change quickly in the NFL. From one day to the next, the Browns went from having Myles Garrett — their defensive anchor for the past nine years — to replacing him with the uber-talented but admittedly less accomplished Jared Verse in a blockbuster trade that shook the sports world. You can count Verse as the starter already, and I'm not even sure he's touched down in Ohio yet.
Opposite Verse will be Alex Wright, who will begin the three-year extension he inked last November. Behind the first-teamers, there's a lot in flux. The steady Isaiah McGuire is slated to return for his fourth season, and Julian Okwara — who spent last season on the practice squad but didn't appear in any games — has been invited back for another year. Then, the new kids on the block.
Browns general manager Andrew Berry inked three undrafted free agent EDGE rushers in the aftermath of the 2026 NFL Draft. They are Utah's Logan Fano (also the brother of Browns first-round pick Spencer Fano), Florida's Tyreak Sapp, and Vanderbilt's Khordae Sydnor. While fans were distracted by the brotherly connection with the Fanos, the fact that Sydnor received the second-largest signing bonus ($275,000) of the undrafted rookie class flew under the radar.
The Browns are betting heavily on Khordae Sydnor making the 53-man roster
Take a gander at Khordae Sydnor and you might instantly wonder how this gentleman went undrafted. He's 6-foot-4, weighs 264 pounds, and had 3.5 sacks as a rotational EDGE in the SEC last season. Don't think he padded stats in some of the cupcake games the SEC schedules every year, either. Virginia Tech's Kyron Drones, Alabama's Ty Simpson, and Kentucky's Cutter Boley were among his victims.
Those 3.5 sacks gave him 14 total over his five-year college career, which was split between Purdue and Vandy. He added 24 tackles for loss with 71 total tackles to round out his resume. At the Combine, his athletic testing garnered him an 8.41 RAS (Relative Athletic Score), which was buoyed by an elite composite speed grade. There is everything to like about Sydnor, which might be precisely why Andrew Berry prioritized signing him.
Undrafted free agency is as close to a free-for-all as the NFL allows. There are parameters in place, but teams have plenty of leeway to make their offer stand out. Andrew Berry has bucked the trend before, giving wide receiver Isaiah Bond a fully-guaranteed, three-year contract as an undrafted free agent just last season. While not nearly as high, the $275,000 guarantee given to Sydnor trumps Tyreak Sapp's ($60,000) and only slightly trails Logan Fano's ($310,000).
Fano and Sydnor were the only two Browns UDFAs to eclipse $200,000 in guarantees, which helps put into perspective the way they're viewed by the front office. It appears Berry was intentionally targeting EDGE rushers, and his substantial commitment puts the ball squarely in the rookies' court. To this point, the team has resisted adding any veteran players to the group. They seem intent on giving the youngsters as many reps as they can handle.
Khordae Sydnor has the tools and he's demonstrated the ability. As a coaching staff, that's all you can ask for. Now, it's time for new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg and incumbent defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire to work their magic. Sydnor has ostensibly already gotten to work in an effort to replicate Garrett's impact. There are few better examples than him, after all — well, except when it comes to following the speed limit, of course.
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