New Orleans Saints 2015 Profiles: Brandon Browner

The New Orleans Saints have quite the collection of names in the secondary with Keenan Lewis, Kenny Vaccaro, Jairus Byrd, Brandon Browner, CFL product Delvin Breaux, Rafael Bush, and tools-y second-year Nebraska prospect Stanley Jean-Baptiste among those set to take snaps at the back-end of a defense that is just itching to bounce back after their collective flop last season. Breaux and Florida State rookie P.J. Williams qualify as big offseason additions, but the biggest name and the most likely game-changer of the group is the two-time Super Bowl champion Browner.

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Although his penchant for giving up penalties can make him a frustrating player at times, Browner is an ideal No. 2 corner in this league due to his ball skills, size, strength, and coverage ability on shorter routes. He’ll get burned deep due to his woeful lack of speed and generally requires safety help, but if Rob Ryan is looking to have the baddest and most physical CB duo in the business, then pairing up Lewis with Browner is a great way to accomplish that goal.

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Browner wasn’t much of a playmaker last season with just six passes defended, and he’s only had one pick in each of the past two seasons. However, he did have ten PDs in his final season with the Seattle Seahawks, and he was a 23-PD machine as an oft-burned rookie with nine picks in his first two seasons in the league.

Nobody is going to sit around and pretend that Browner is a No. 1-caliber cornerback in this league, and that’s why the Saints were able to sign him to a three-year deal worth $15 million that seems quite modest compared to what other notable corners make on the open market. It’s an in-demand position for obvious reasons, and physical press corners like Browner who have six-INT seasons on their resumes generally don’t come cheap.

Of course, the Saints are paying him $7.75 million, so the 30-year-old Oregon State product, who will be 31 when the season opens up, understandably traded maximum earnings for some much-needed security now that he’s with his third team in as many seasons (he will get some form of guaranteed money in each of the three seasons in this deal).

That said, Browner makes less money per year than the likes of Cary Williams, Davon House, and Cortez Allen, so while he has a substantially higher percentage of guaranteed money coming in than most CBs over 30, there’s a reason why nobody is criticizing this move; his deal is right in line with his market value.

Browner had a ghastly 15 penalties committed last season, but he made up for it by playing some hard-nosed run defense in his nine appearances and generally supplying the New England Patriots with some tight coverage. Per Pro Football Focus, he allowed a whopping 14.8 yards per reception to further showcase the fact that he’s not difficult to beat vertically, but he was tied for 17th among 73 qualifiers in cover snaps per reception, emphasizing the fact that he plays tight coverage on short and intermediate routes.

If Byrd can be healthy and as effective as his talent dictates this year, then that will go a long way, as it will likely prevent Brandon Browner from being too much of a liability vertically due to his lack of speed. The Saints clearly want to play aggressively on defense, and that goes for both their secondary and their pass rush. Browner brings that sort of swagger to the table with his hard-hitting, pestering coverage, and on-field demeanor.

May 28, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints cornerback Brandon Browner (39) during organized team activities at the New Orleans Saints Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, teams looking for big upgrades at a key position on their roster generally don’t pay out 51.7% in guarantees for a player’s “demeanor”. They probably know that Browner will give them some headaches with his mistakes, but they also know that he is a unique player at the position and an above-average starter due to his size and his potential to be a playmaker for them.

He hasn’t had many picks of late, yes, but he also doesn’t need to intercept five passes in a season to give a defense that picked off just 12 passes last year a boost in that department. No Saints player had more than two picks in 2014, so that’s something worth chewing on.

At the least, Browner is an upgraded over Patrick Robinson, who signed a one-year deal worth $2 million with the San Diego Chargers, and it will be exciting to see how the New Orleans Saints use him next season.

No longer an overrated player after his star faded following his exit from the Seattle Seahawks (really, following Byron Maxwell‘s ascension late in 2013-2014 in Browner’s previous role as Richard Sherman‘s partner-in -crime), Browner is well known as a good-but-flawed corner fitting the profile of a guy who can be a big asset in the right situation, just as he was for the Patriots and Seahawks in the past; we’ll see if Byrd, the Saints, and their front seven can be just that.

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