It appears new Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is doing a great job of putting his new coaching staff together. The Browns finally got new DC Joe Woods under contract and there are now reports he’s bringing Chris Kiffin to be the new DL coach. He is the brother of Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and son of legendary NFL defensive guru Monti Kiffin. Kiffin was the pass rush specialist last year for the 49ers and having seen their pass rush, Myles Garrett must be a very happy man. There were reports that Woods was also hiring Fred Pagac as his LB coach. Nope, the Browns hired Jason Tarver. If you’re a Vanderbilt, fan like me, that name should sound familiar, Tarver was Vandy’s DC the last two years and was fired this past year, as were a few Vandy assistants. I think it was the only way Vandy HC Derek Mason could keep his job.
I love both of these hires. The 49ers probably have the best defensive line in the NFL and even though it consisted of five first round picks, someone had to teach them. I expect big things out of the defensive line for the Browns. Garrett, Richardson, Ogunjobi and Vernon should all flourish. I know a lot of Browns fans want to cut Olivier Vernon to save cap space, I’m not one of them. I’m hoping the Browns can restructure his contract, because 15.5 million for next year is too much. He still can be a very good pass rusher and I would prefer the Browns spend their cap money on quality DL depth. The Browns need to spend big in free agency on the offensive line, linebackers (Schobert) and the safety position. As for Tarver, he has NFL experience as the DC of the Raiders. This will be very beneficial to Woods, having someone on his staff who has called defensive plays before. Experience never hurts. Tarver is probably best known for flipping off the officials twice during a game against the Steelers. I love the guy already.
On the offensive side of the ball, the hiring of Alex Van Pelt became official as did new WR coach Chad O’Shea. There are reports the Browns are hiring former Broncos QB coach T.C. McCartney. He did one heck of a job last year with two young Denver quarterbacks. Remember QB Brandon Allen? I still have nightmares about that game, what a wasted opportunity. The Browns have Van Pelt listed as the OC, however at this time, position titles for Van Pelt and McCartney are fluid. If Stefanski feels comfortable about Van Pelt calling plays, then he’s the OC and McCartney is the QB coach. The best thing about this offensive staff is Stefanski, O’Shea, Van Pelt and McCartney have all been QB coaches. It looks like this staff has the firepower to turn Baker Mayfield around. Now it’s up to Mayfield to follow through.
With the start of the new NFL year right around the corner, lets talk about free agency. The Browns right now have about 50 million in cap space. That’s assuming the salary cap rises 40 million as has been speculated. NFL teams are allowed to carry forward a certain amount of their 2019 unused salary cap so the Browns might have an additional 5 to 10 million. The Browns do have some large salaries which go into effect when the league year officially starts on March 18th, ( the legal tampering period starts on March 16th, but it really starts at the NFL Combine on Feb. 24th). Olivier Vernon, Sheldon Richardson, Odell Beckham and JC Tretter, to name a few, all have large bumps in salary coming. So lets see who the Browns can cut to make a little room on the cap and on the roster. By releasing RT Chris Hubbard, RG Eric Kush, TE Demetrius Harris and CB TJ Carrie, the Browns can save about 20 million. As for Browns free agents, restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents, I hope they resign, LB Joe Schobert(FA), S Justin Burris(FA), RB Kareem Hunt (RFA), DE Bryan Cox(RFA) and WR KahDarel Hodge(ERFA).
As for opposing team free agents I hope the Browns can sign, lets start on the offensive line. The Colts Anthony Castonzo and the Titans Jack Conklin are two of the higher rated tackles. Castonzo has threatened to retire unless the Colts resign him and Conklin is going to command a contract in the 14 to 18 million dollar range. Washington’s Brandon Scherff, Green Bays Bryan Bulaga or the Eagles Halapoulivaati Vaitai might be better options. If it was me, I’d go all in on Conklin. He’s 25 and coming off a season where he got better as the season went on. As for the safeties, there are quite a few good ones hopefully hitting the market. Vikings Anthony Harris, Broncos Justin Simmons, Bears Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Carolina’s Tre Boston and 49ers Jimmie Ward. The linebacker free agent group is not very deep with the Rams Cory Littleton as the best option. Defensive linemen the Browns could target, Carolina’s Gerald McCoy or Steelers Javon Hargrave. Some of these players have connections to the coaching staff and some are on teams that are in salary cap hell, either over the cap or too close to afford certain players. New GM Andrew Berry said he was going to be aggressive, so we’ll see.
So my free agent wish list would be T Conklin, S Boston and/or S Ward,DL Hargrave and QB Case Keenum. Combine these players with resigning Browns players and the draft and the Browns aren’t that far away. Right now Las Vegas has the Browns win total at 8 wins, which astonishes me. I’ve seen some mock drafts starting to come to a consensuses that the Browns will draft Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas. I would be fine with that, he’s a three starter with two years at left tackle. Thomas, Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs or Louisville’s Mekhi Becton would be able to start day one at the left tackle spot. Browns fans have to hope three QB’s go in the first nine picks of the draft, that will force one of these tackles down to the Browns at ten. Lastly, sad news, team mascot Swagger has passed away. Some people will laugh at Browns fans for being sad about this, but Swagger was part of the Cleveland Browns and that’s all that matters to Browns Fans. RIP Swagger and Go Browns.