Cincinnati Bengals Non-Playoff Team Free Agency Targets: Cleveland Browns

We’ve embarked on a series looking at free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should pursue on teams which sat out the 2017 playoffs. Next up: the Cleveland Browns.

The NFL offseason is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. An exciting Super Bowl ended the 2017 playoffs with a bang only a few ago, but it isn’t long until we see 2018 truly begin. Only a few weeks away is March 14, the beginning of free agency. Now is the time to figure out who is worth pursuing for and from every team in regards to the Cincinnati Bengals.

We’ve already gone through the postseason participants from this past season and who Cincinnati should look at coming off of their rosters. But now the focus is switching to the teams that sat out of the playoffs.

We’ve previously taken a look at players from the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, and Houston Texans. Now we look at a player from Cincinnati’s winless AFC North buddies, the Cleveland Browns.

Lavar Edwards, DE

This was the most difficult challenge so far for me in this exercise, and it will probably not be surpassed by the time we reach the end. It is difficult to find much talent at all on Cleveland’s roster to begin with, much less any players who are simultaneously up for new contracts, are competent, and have a decent chance of not being kept by the team.

After some deep diving and intense rationalizing though, I do believe there is at least one player from that moribund squad who fits the parameters I laid out: Lavar Edwards.

Why him? A 4-3 defensive end who doesn’t rush the passer well with consistency is a player type which can find a role with teams? Well, he’s clearly got limits, but oftentimes it will be in a small rotational one where they are always judged on what they cannot do rather than the actual positives they bring.

Atlanta’s Adrian Clayborn’s career is a good comp for that. Even with a completely fluky six-sack outing this year (brought on by terrible play from one Cowboys lineman and decision-making malpractice by Dallas head coach Jason Garrett), Clayborn has picked up just 30 sacks across his seven seasons — an average of less than 4.5 sacks per year. Another comp for Edwards, Lawrence Jackson, was about the same: 19.5 sacks in five seasons, for an average right under four sacks per year.

Edwards isn’t even close to those guys as a pass rusher, however. In five seasons, he has a measly 2 sacks. This isn’t exactly an issue of just being in a bad situation, either; he’s been a part of six different teams and never even reached 200 defensive snaps in a single year.

So what is the draw for him then? It is in his run defense.

He hasn’t had much usage, but in what little amount of snaps he’s been given he has managed to be decent against the run. Per Pro Football Focus Edge, he received a 77.2 in their run defense metrics; that can be useful if used correctly. Put him in a hyper-specific role on early downs, and he has the potential make a positive (if small) impact.

The team actually did something similar to this last season, by the way. In a back-page transaction, Cincinnati acquired defensive end Chris Smith from the Jaguars for a late-round draft pick. Despite clear deficiencies (a sieve against the run), he had a potential strength to bring to the table (pass rush ability). Given a chance to fight for a role, Smith earned one as part of a deep pass rush rotation, picking up more snaps last year (401) than he did in his first three combined (312); in it, he tied career highs with three sacks and one forced fumble while setting new ones for tackles (26) and pass knockdowns (2).

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: One unexpected pick for each team

The thinking which brought Smith into the mix last season could help shore up one of that same unit’s weaker points. Smith and Carl Lawson may be good at pass rushing, but they are less so against the run. The non-Geno Atkins interior players could use some run defense help as well.

Edwards would be a shot in the dark, but so was Smith. It worked out fine for Cincinnati last season, and would be as low risk as things come for them to attempt to discover again in 2018.