Delpit won the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in the nation for LSU and was considered by most, myself included, as a steal in round two with the playmaking potential to be the type of ball-hawking safety that Cleveland had not seen in years.
Delpit had not been named the starter at free safety, but was expected to see plenty of playing time and was expected to have taken control at the position by the end of the season.
Browns fans, let's hope we see this player next season!
Cleveland signed former Viking Andrew Sendejo as the veteran mentor/possible early-season starter in the off-season and returned second-year man Sheldrick Redwine at the position, but I'm not thrilled with either as the starter for the season.
Andrew Berry does have some interesting veteran options to consider at the position and though it would be against the usual Browns manner to sign a veteran name in these cases, there are some to choose from.
Earl Thomas has been one of the better safeties in the game, is similar to Delpit in his style of play, and played well for Baltimore last season although he did show some signs of decline when he was beaten deep on occasion.
Thomas did have an off the field incident in the off-season and the Ravens just waived him after a practice fight with teammate Chuck Clark.
Thomas could be a troubled player right now and the Browns may pass on Thomas for that reason alone.
Eric Reid has played well for Carolina in his two seasons after leaving San Francisco and I'm a big fan of his game.
However, he's more of a tackler (97 solos last year) than a playmaker ( four interceptions in his last five seasons) and I think the Browns are hoping for more of the latter in what they are looking for.
Tony Jefferson is a player that the Browns front office in the Sashi Brown era with Andrew Berry in tow, went after very aggressively in 2017 but lost to Baltimore.
The Ravens used him more as a strong safety, but he can play free safety as well.
Jefferson is coming off a torn ACL and between that and his salary caused Baltimore to let him go.
Kurt Coleman is more of a strong safety at this point in his career but has played free safety.
Coleman isn't what he once was, but he can still hit, would be good in the locker room, and the former Buckeye in the worst case, won't be worse than what they have.
Eric Berry didn't play in 2019 and I'm not sure if he wants to play in 2020, but he's never announced his retirement and the time off (he only played seven games including playoffs in 2018) might have helped his body heal a bit.
Berry might be a risk at his age and status, but in his seven games in 2018, Berry showed he can still play at a high level.
The questions are will he hold up long enough over the course of a season and does he want to play and if so, where?
One final possibility for the spot is from in-house.
Tampa Bay released M.J. Stewart because they thought he was a step slow and short for a cornerback (Why they did not figure this out before drafting him in 2018 is another question).
However, they had considered trying him at safety where his size wouldn't be such a detriment and his football smarts would be an advantage.
Perhaps the answer to this problem could be giving Stewart, who has impressed observers in camp, a shot at the position?
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