Monday, March 15, 2021

Browns sign John Johnson

    The Cleveland Browns addressed one of several holes on a defense that needed upgrading and the signing of the best safety available in free agency has upgraded the Browns immediately.

John Johnson likely would have remained with the Los Angeles Rams, had the Rams not been trapped in salary cap prison, but with remaining in Los Angeles off the board, Johnson was the main target for the Browns.

Johnson has been noted as calling the coverages for the Rams and Johnson is still only 25 years old.

Johnson was selected by the Rams in 2017 with their third-round pick out of Boston College.

Johnson started eleven games as a rookie and has played full seasons in three of his four seasons in the league, playing the first six games in 2019 before his season ended due to a shoulder injury.

Johnson finished 2020 with 73 solo tackles and one interception and he is a strong safety, so he fits into a potential three safety alignment with Ronnie Harrison and Grant Delpit.

The Browns were often beaten deep for big chunks of yardage over the middle last season (cough Andrew Sendejo.) and the addition of John Johnson will address that problem immediately.

It'll be Johnson that will be the roving "centerfielder" that the Browns lacked last season and it'll be Johnson that will be the captain of the defense.

Johnson's agent said that he turned down an offer from another unnamed team for much more money than the Browns offered and he preferred to sign with Cleveland for three years and 33.7 million, which seems to be a steal considering that Johnson was the best safety available and thought of by many as a top ten strong safety in the league.

Chalk another smart signing up for Andrew Berry for selecting his top priority and landing him seemingly at a discount compared to other offers.

What really makes me feel good about the signing of John Johnson isn't only an excellent player signing with the Browns- it is that the Browns have begun to bring players into Cleveland that want to be there and they want to be there because players have started to feel that they can win games with the Cleveland Browns.

That's the feeling in Cleveland and that's a feeling that hasn't been around for a long time.

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