Berry should look for pass rusher free agent

The Browns need linebackers - at least one linebacker with speed who can change a game on one play.

The Browns need linebackers — at least one linebacker with speed who can change a game on one play like the Buccaneers’ Devin White does.

Everyone who follows the Browns knows that.

The problem for Browns director of football operations Andrew Berry, with freeagent courting beginning at 4:01 p.m. March 15, is the impact linebackers he needs are already employed. Finding one in the draft is an issue for next month.

White was picked fifth overall in the 2019 draft. The Browns will be picking 26th on April 29, barring a trade.

Two standout linebackers who were headed to free agency when the 2020 season ended — Lavonte David of the Buccaneers and Matt Millano of the Buffalo Bills — decided the grass isn’t greener in another city even if the money might be.

Millano on March 11 signed a four-year, $44 million contract to remain with the Bills, who, like the Browns, are trending in the right direction.

David, 31, signed a twoyear, $25 million deal to remain with the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers.

This will be his 10th season with the Bucs, who selected him in the second round of the 2012 draft.

The linebacker freeagent cupboard is practically bare — Jalon Brown from the Titans is still a possibility — so Berry can go hard for a pass rusher when the legal tampering part of free agency negotiations begins at 4:01 p.m. March 15. Deals can be finalized before the start of free agency 48 hours later, but contracts cannot be signed until 4:01 p.m. March 17 when the new

league year officially begins.

Many would argue pass rusher should be a priority, anyway. With Olivier Vernon a free agent recovering from a ruptured Achilles, the Browns definitely need another defensive end to pair with Myles Garrett.

Until they improve at linebacker, the Browns are going to be caught flat-footed, as they were in the divisional playoff game when Chiefs ancient backup quarterback Chad Henne ambled to his left (he is too slow to use the word scrambled) 13 yards on third-and-14 with two minutes to play and the Browns down, 22-17.

The play set up the daring call to have Henne throw a short pass to Tyreek Hill on fourthand-1 with 1:14 left. The completion for five yards ended any hope the Browns had of a miracle comeback.

Rating the best available free-agent pass rushers

is like reading a menu. Maybe Berry prefers a Tbone steak and another general manager wants a ribeye.

Whomever Berry pursues will not come cheaply. The Browns have $24.36 million of salary cap space, according to spotrac.com. That ranks 15th among the NFL’s 32 teams.

• Unlike David, Tampa Bay outside linebacker Shaquil Bennett, 28, says he wants to “break the bank” in free agency. He would prefer to break it with the Buccaneers and could re-sign before March

17. He had 19.5 sacks in 2019 but only eight last year.

Bennett weighs 250 pounds. Garrett weighs 272 pounds. Vernon, who had nine sacks in 2020, weighs 262 pounds.

During a recent Zoom conference, Berry was asked about pursuing a player that might not fit the scheme the Browns play. He called it “a fantastic question.” Barrett

could fit that description as an outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense that Tampa plays. The Browns use a 4-3 base defense but should be able to find a way to make a superb athlete fit.

“In an ideal world, we’re able to have some type of flexibility in our systems to accommodate players who may not be clean schematic fits,” Berry said. “The other element in play is maybe how far a ‘not perfect’ fit that player may need and then the second piece is just the level of investment that would take to acquire the player. There is somewhat of an inherent risk if someone is not a clean fit in the system.”

• Bud Dupree of the Steelers is also 28. He is a 6-foot-4, 269-pound defensive end coming off a knee injury. He had 11.5 sacks in 16 games in 2019 and eight in 11 games last year before the injury ended his season. Dupree benefited from playing with

T.J. Watt in Pittsburgh. He would gain the same benefit playing with Garrett. Signing Dupree would strengthen the Browns and weaken the Steelers.

• Trey Hendrickson, 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, had 13.5 sacks with the Saints last season. He is 26. Most good pass rushers had a teammate on the other side of the line harassing the quarterback. Cameron Jordan filled that role in New Orleans. Hendrickson did not become a starter until 2020 — his fourth year in the league. He has limitations as a run defender according to scouting reports and might be best used as a situational pass rusher.

• Just as the Browns would be taking from the Steelers if they sign Dupree, they could take from the Bengals by signing 6-foot-2, 265-pound Carl Lawson. Lawson had only 5.5 sacks in 2020 in the final year of his rookie contract, but he also had 32 quarterback hits. According

to Next Get Stats, he was seventh in the league in sacks created at 10.5. Garrett was second in the league in that category with 16.5 (Aaron Donald of the Rams was first with 19) despite missing two games with COVID. The “sacks created” stat is in addition to actual sacks the player recorded. Garrett had 12 sacks in 2020.

• Yannick Ngakoue was with three teams in 2020 — the Jaguars, Vikings and Ravens. He was traded from the Jaguars to Minnesota on Aug. 31 and from the Vikings to Baltimore on Oct. 22. He played in 15 games, started eight and had eight sacks. The Ravens used him as a third-down pass rusher last year and that might be his role for whatever team signs him. He is built like a 3-4 linebacker at 6-foot-2, 246 pounds.