Cleveland Browns: 5 Free agents to sign before training camp
4. Mike Daniels, DT
One of the big underlying concerns about the Browns defense over the past two years has been the depth on the interior of the defensive line — at least prior to any helmet-swinging-related suspensions that really threw off that unit.
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Larry Ogunjobi and Sheldon Richardson are two impact players up front on the Cleveland defense but they were playing an exorbitant amount of snaps because there simply wasn’t quality depth behind them. This offseason, though, they’ve already worked to remedy that, signing veteran Andrew Billings and selecting Jordan Elliott out of Missouri in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
However, if the Browns want to not rely on Elliott too much right away, they could make a savvy buy-low move in free agency right now and land Mike Daniels.
Daniels is coming off of his two worst years in the NFL by most metrics with the Lions. Not only was he simply not as productive as he had been but he was also banged up, which is not a great sign for a player on the north side of 30 years old. Having said that, he’s a veteran who, when healthy, can get after quarterbacks from the interior and clog up the middle. As a relatively cheap depth piece to fortify the line, the Browns might be wise to look his way.