Darius Shaquille Leonard one of the few that fits the bill
The Cleveland Browns were busy in NFL free agency even if their only splash this offseason came in a trade for WR Jerry Jeudy. The NFL draft has come and gone with the Browns sticking with their six selections to add a variety of interesting players for specific reasons.
Turning back to free agency, Cleveland added another player to the interior of their offensive line this week in what looks like a final addition on top of signing or re-signing:
- DE Za’Darius Smith
- QB Jameis Winston
- RB Nyheim Hines
- LB Jordan Hicks
- LB Devin Bush
- DT Shelby Harris
- DT Quinton Jefferson
- DT Maurice Hurst
- S Rodney McLeod
- QB Tyler Hunley
- DB Justin Hardee
- DB Tony Brown
- RB D’Onta Foreman
- P Corey Bojorquez
- K Cade York
- OL Michael Dunn
- WR James Proche
- TE/FB Giovanni Ricci
- DL Sam Kamara
- OL Hakeem Adeniji
According to Pro Football Focus, the Browns should make “one last offseason move” before moving forward:
CLEVELAND BROWNS: ADD A VETERAN LINEBACKER
Their replacements are Jordan Hicks and Devin Bush. Hicks earned a 74.6 PFF grade last season and should fit in perfectly, but Bush failed to top 60.0 in any of the past four seasons. With that in mind, bringing in some training camp competition for Bush wouldn’t be a bad idea.
A quick look at the remaining free agents at the linebacker position finds just three players who played more than 50% of their eligible snaps last season: Zach Cunningham, Shaquille Leonard and Josh Woods.
Leonard, who went by Darius Leonard with the Indianapolis Colts until changing to his middle name in 2022, had a lot of success early in his career including three first-team All-Pros and three Pro Bowls. He struggled with a back injury in 2022 and never found his footing before the Colts released him near the end of last season.
Cunningham has played with three teams in his eight seasons but has seen his production drop off significantly since 164 tackles in 2020. Woods is the least accomplished of the three with three teams in six seasons but his most productive came in 2023 with 61 tackles in just 11 games.
Do you think the Browns should make a move to add a veteran linebacker like Leonard or roll with who they have and hope the younger guys provide depth?
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