Browns Linebacker Shakeup

      The free agency period started with the Browns re-signing two key defensive linemen (more on the
retentions later in the week) but it was the linebackers that saw the most action with one player signing in Cleveland and two veteran Browns departing Northeast Ohio.

The new arrival is veteran Jordan Hicks, who signed a two-year contract valued at eight million dollars from the Minnesota Vikings.

Hicks will turn thirty-two before training camp and will be entering his tenth NFL season, four of those with Philadelphia where he played for Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz after being drafted by the Eagles in the third round in 2015, three with the Arizona Cardinals before his two most recent seasons with the Vikings.

Hicks started thirteen games for the Vikings last season, finishing with sixty-one solo tackles, a sack, and an interception.

Hicks hasn't played fewer than twelve games in the last six seasons, so he's durable and able to stay in the lineup.

Hicks knows what Jim Schwartz wants in a linebacker and while he's not an exciting playmaker like Jeremiah Owosu-Koramoah, Hicks is a solid, steady player that isn't all that different than either of the players that the Browns lost in free agency.

Cleveland lost Anthony Walker, who signed with the Dolphins, and Sione Takitaki, who was picked up by the Patriots.

Walker played three seasons for the Browns after being signed from Indianapolis and was loved by his teammates but I saw a player that rarely made big plays and in twelve games last season, Walker made only twenty-three solo tackles and just one for a loss.

Takitaki played five seasons in Cleveland after the Browns drafted him in the third round in 2019 from BYU.

Takitaki returned last season from a severe knee injury to play in fifteen games (seven starts) finishing with forty-five solo tackles, two sacks, and an interception last season.

Takitaki was also helpful on special teams, so the Browns will be looking through free agency, draft, or undrafted free agency for a linebacker who can cover on special teams.

Is Jordan Hicks a big upgrade over Anthony Walker or Sione Takitaki? 

Probably not but he's a mild upgrade over either.

Back later with the Browns other moves that saw them lose a key special teams player and re-sign two key members of the defensive line. 

Browns re-sign Anthony Walker

    Before the Cleveland Browns announced their addition of Elijah Moore from a trade with the New York Jets, the story of the day from Berea was the return of veteran linebacker Anthony Walker on a one-year agreement.

No terms disclosed as of now for the third one-year deal for the former Northwestern Wildcat's return to Cleveland as the likely starting middle/MIKE linebacker unless the Browns unexpectedly sign/draft someone that forces Walker to the bench.

Walker missed most of the season in 2022 when he suffered a season-ending torn quad in a week three win over Pittsburgh but is expected to be ready for the start of training camp.

Walker is beloved in the locker room and by fans for his high motor and character, so this is a popular return to Cleveland for Walker and it's tough to deny that the Browns run defense turned rancid after losing Walker for the year.

The run defense was affected by the loss of Walker as soon as the following week as the Browns were favored to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta and allowed two hundred and two yards to non-entities Tyler Allgeier and Caleb Huntley, which would set the game plan for the remainder of the season for every Cleveland opponent.

In 2021, Walker's first season as a Brown, Walker finished with 69 solo tackles with 44 assisted in thirteen games, so he's steady but honestly, there are so many linebackers that come and go with the Browns that are tackle accumulators that fantasy owners love but they make those tackles downfield and generally lack impact, although it can be said that their impact is felt a bit more when they are missing from the field.

I wish the Browns had a playmaker at linebacker that could change a game at any time and maybe Jeremiah Owosu-Koramoah might be the guy eventually but guys like Walker are generally easy to find on any given free agent period.

I'm not against bringing back Walker, he's a solid player, a good mentor, well-liked, and isn't going to hurt you for the most part but while he will help against the run, he's a linebacker that will need the defensive tackles in front of him to occupy blockers for Walker to maximize his effectiveness as he's not a defender that runs around or sheds blocks.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Browns drafted a linebacker with one of their third or fourth-round picks with Walker's injury history and Jacob Phillips being a disappointment thus far in his Cleveland term, the Browns could be in the market for a young linebacker to get into the pipeline to learn from a veteran such as Anthony Walker and hopefully step in for him as early as 2024. 

Browns sign Jakeem Grant, release Austin Hooper

   While the residents of Cleveland Browns nation debated whether the team should pursue DeShaun Watson from Houston and whether or not Baker Mayfield is getting a fair shake from the front office, the work of the off-season continued as the Browns signed one player, re-signed two others, and announced plans to release another after June 1st.

Let's start with the newest Brown as Cleveland made its latest attempt to find someone to solve the problems in returning kicks and punts that have existed since Josh Cribbs left town and maybe this time, they may have gotten it right as the Browns signed wide receiver/ return man Jakeem Grant from the Chicago Bears with a three-year contract worth just under fourteen million dollars.

Grant made his first Pro Bowl last season after playing a few games for Miami before being traded to Chicago, averaging twenty-three yards per kick return and just under twelve yards per punt return with one punt returned for a touchdown.

Grant was Miami's sixth-round selection in 2016 out of Texas Tech and spent his entire career in Miami before the midseason trade that saw the Bears send the Dolphins a 2023 sixth-round draft pick.

Grant has also seen action occasionally at wide receiver, finishing this season with eleven catches and 132 yards with two touchdowns.

Grant will hopefully be able to solve the problem that has existed for quite a while.

The Browns announced that they will be releasing tight end Austin Hooper with a post-June 1 designation in order to roll some of the cap hit over two seasons rather than one.

By holding onto Hooper until June, the Browns will be able to save nine million of Hooper's cap number after his release.

Hooper was a highly touted signing in 2020 after Hooper had made the Pro Bowl in both 2018 and 2019 with over seventy catches in each season and the Browns signed him to a four-year contract that seemed to have solidified tight end in the Kevin Stefanski offense.

But Hooper struggled in Cleveland with "chemistry" with Baker Mayfield and developed an alarming tendency to fall down as soon as he caught the football, finishing with a low in receiving numbers that hadn't been seen since Hooper's rookie season.

Hooper caught only 38 passes for 345 yards and only three touchdowns and with his disappointing numbers and needing to give David Njoku a raise, it was a foregone conclusion that Hooper was likely to be a cap casualty.

The Browns re-signed two players, one of those a starter as linebacker Anthony Walker and tackle Chris Hubbard each returned to the Browns.

Anthony Walker signed with the Browns last season after leaving the Colts on a one-year contract and is returning on another one-year contract worth five million dollars.

The twenty-six-year-old Walker was a solid if unspectacular player who started twelve of the thirteen games that he played in 2021.

Walker finished the season with 69 solo tackles and a sack and is expected to be in the middle with Jeremiah Owusu-Koaramoah and  Jacob Phillips on each side of him.

The other transaction was the Browns retaining 30-year-old veteran offensive lineman Chris Hubbard with a one-year deal for an undisclosed amount.

The veteran can play guard or tackle and was injured for the season in the opener against Kansas City after suffering a triceps injury.

Hubbard is expected to provide depth at both offensive line positions.

Browns sign Anthony Walker, Malik Jackson

  The Cleveland Browns continued to revamp their defense for 2021 with two signings, both of which will bolster points that had not been addressed previously in free agency.

The Browns need help at linebacker now and they needed it all last season as well.

The Browns front office seems to look at linebacker as the least important position on the defense and are choosing to skimp on that position to spend more on others.

Since you simply cannot afford to go all out at every position group due to the salary cap, corners have to be cut and the Browns have chosen linebacker to try to cut those corners as their game plan appears to try to sign a solid veteran every year or two to a one or two (at the most) year contract through free agency at reasonable prices and rotate them in and out.

Cleveland signed B.J. Goodson last year to a one-year contract and they are allowing him to test free agency as an example of this plan, so if you allow someone to walk, a replacement is needed.

I think the Browns have signed a good one in Anthony Walker, who played for the Colts since 2017 when Indianapolis drafted him in the fifth round from Northwestern.

Walker was a player that his Colts teammates badly wanted to retain as several Colts, including star linebacker Darius Leonard, appeared to be very upset and generous with their tributes to Walker after the announcement of his signing with the Browns became public.

Walker started all sixteen games for the Colts last season at inside linebacker, started all but two games over the last three seasons since entering the starting lineup, and will likely be the Browns starter in the middle in Cleveland.

Walker is more of a reliable player rather than a big playmaker and will likely have Jacob Phillips and Mack Wilson starting with him, although the Browns will often play two linebackers with an extra defensive back in their place.

Walker finished last season with 65 solo tackles and one interception for Indianapolis and is known for accumulating tackles.

I think the signing of Walker is an improvement over B.J. Goodson and I think that it's possible (possible) that Walker plays well enough to earn another contract from the Browns, even if it would be another one-year commitment.

However, Pro Football Focus doesn't think highly of Walker and the Browns have been known to rely heavily on their evaluations, so signing Walker despite PFF's concerns is a mild surprise.

Walker will turn 26 before the season and his one-year deal will pay him three and a half million dollars.

Cleveland also needed to add some help along the interior of the defensive line as the Browns only returned three defensive tackles and only two that played last season when you consider that Andrew Billings sat 2020 out after signing a one-year contract due to Covid-19 concerns.

Sheldon Richardson played well last season and Jordan Elliott is back after a rookie season, but the Browns still need more bodies and they added a very interesting one in veteran Malik Jackson.

The 31-year-old Jackson played for Philadelphia over the last two seasons and for the Eagles last season, Jackson finished with fifteen solo tackles and two and a half sacks after playing only one game in 2019.

Jackson was drafted by Denver in the fifth round of the 2012 draft after playing his college football at Tennessee, but his best seasons came as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars where he made a Pro Bowl in 2017 when he finished with a career-high eight and a half sacks.

Jackson signed a large contract with the Eagles and disappointed the team with a foot injury in 2019 and failing to make an impact last season despite a hefty salary.

Jackson was scheduled to make ten and a half million for the Eagles in 2021 and considering his lack of production, Jackson was an easy choice for Philadelphia to release and take a lesser cap hit rather than pay an exorbitant price.

Jackson is showing some mileage, but perhaps the Browns can stretch some production by playing him more often on passing downs to keep his snap down and he should be motivated to play well in order to earn one more large contract somewhere for 2022.

Jackson still has value as an interior pass rusher as Pro Football Focus (take this as you will) rated Jackson as a pass rusher in a tie for 22nd among 128 qualifying defensive tackles.

Contract terms are undisclosed at this time.