Cleveland Browns shouldn’t hesitate to break bank for Gerald McCoy

The Cleveland Browns and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy are slated to meet and the team shouldn’t be wary of ponying up for the six-time Pro Bowler.

As May comes to a close, NFL teams still have plenty of options to improve their roster. In fact, a phenomenal option recently hit the market as defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, the six-time Pro Bowler is set to meet with the Cleveland Browns for his first free agency date and general manager John Dorsey needs to not let him leave the building without putting his name on the dotted line.

The 31-year old McCoy has plenty of landing spots throughout the NFL that would make sense. That was clear from the moment his release was announced as a litany of teams from the New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Browns and several others were listed. Cleveland, however, could be the most high-upside fit.

Though McCoy had a down year by his standards in 2018, he’s still proven to be a force throughout his NFL career to this point. Since Tampa made him the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, the big man has accrued 54.5 sacks and 77 tackles for loss in addition to eclipsing 200 solo tackles.

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There’s no doubt that, even on the wrong side of 30, McCoy can deliver pass-rush upside to the interior of any defensive line. Even with the aforementioned down year, at least some of that has to be attributed to the abysmal defense around him, which thus allowed opposing offenses to key in on stopping McCoy.

In Cleveland, that would not be the case and, in fact, the situation sets up beautifully for his talents to be maximized at this point in his career.

It’s no secret what the Browns have done to their roster over the past couple of seasons. They’ve gone from winning one game over two full seasons to flirting with .500 in 2018 and now eyeing potentially capturing the AFC North in the 2019 campaign. Yes, adding the likes of Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. are critical to that, but they’ve made vast improvements on defense as well.

One of the big question marks for the Browns defense in 2018 was the depth along the defensive line. While Myles Garrett and Larry Ogunjobi showed out, they were playing far too many snaps with little reliability behind them in a rotation. Cleveland has fortified that rotation this offseason, however, trading for Olivier Vernon and signing Sheldon Richardson in free agency.

Making the situation more favorable is the work that the Browns have done in the secondary. After selecting Denzel Ward with the fourth overall pick in the 2018 draft and seeing the Ohio State product show out as a rookie, Cleveland was gifted Greedy Williams in the mid-second round of the 2019 draft. Nothing makes a defensive front’s life easier than a secondary that can cover well, in addition to the inverse also being true with a front that can get pressure.

Adding McCoy to the mix up front would give the Browns a lethal group that is not only immensely talented but shockingly deep in comparison to a year ago. Rotating a trio of McCoy, Richardson and Ogunjobi up front would be near too much for many offensive lines to contend with, but that’s even more so the case with an elite duo of Garrett and Vernon coming off the edge.

Furthermore, any concerns about a potential decline due to McCoy’s age would be alleviated in this rotation. He wouldn’t be expected to play near-100 percent of the snaps up front. With the depth now present in Cleveland, his performance would be maximized and he would be kept fresh far more often than he ever was with the Buccaneers.

The Browns, per Over the Cap, currently have $33 million remaining in cap space. Considering that Tampa cut McCoy when he was due $13 million in the 2019 season, it stands to reason that he’ll want something in that range. Yes, that’s a rich deal, but it’s one that Dorsey and Cleveland can easily afford.

More importantly, though, it’s a move that would further improve this Browns roster, making them even more formidable than they already are. With so much interest around the league for McCoy’s services, Cleveland shouldn’t be looking to play hardball here. If the bank needs to be broken a bit to land him, they should be quick to put the number down that will keep McCoy in Ohio for 2019.