The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Free agency winners, losers in AFC North
The first flurry of NFL free agent activity in 2021has ended, like closing time after a Black Friday sale.
The first flurry of NFL free agent activity in 2021 has ended, like closing time after a mad rush on a holiday Black Friday sale.
So what have the Browns, Bengals, Ravens and Steelers done to change the landscape of the AFC North since the free agent negotiating period began at noon on March 15?
Let’s take a look at the gains and losses by each team.
Browns
The Browns had fewer holes to fill than a year ago when Director of Football Operations Andrew Berry landed right tackle Jack Conklin and tight end Austin Hooper on the first day of free agency in 2020. Conklin, especially, filled a dire need.
Still, Berry fulfilled a promise to be aggressive in 2021 when he signed safety John Johnson from the Los Angeles Rams to a three-year, $33 million contract almost as soon as the bell sounded to signify that Black Monday shopping season was open.
Johnson is 25 and entering the prime of his career. He led the Rams with 105 tackles in 2020.
He had eight interceptions in four seasons with the Rams. The Browns had to — had to — get better at the back end to compete against the likes of AFC quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Ryan Tannehill and Derek Carr.
“Johnson excels at using his eyes as a two-high safety where he transitions his eyes in coverage from one target to the next and leveraging routes properly,” Sports Illustrated wrote in a free agency scouting report. “He is a fluid mover who does not falsestep coming downhill, showing noticeable burst out of his breaks.
He is an efficient tackler in the open field whether it be limiting big yards after the catch or keeping runs from breaking out.”
Johnson and 2020 draft pick Grant Delpit project as the starting safeties for the Browns in 2021. Ronnie Harrison would play in three-safety schemes.
Berry did not get a bigname defensive end but instead signed Takkarist McKinley, a former firstround draft pick by the Falcons, to a one-year deal. Berry did well not to overpay for an end, but McKinley is not an upgrade over Olivier Vernon, who had nine sacks for the Browns last season. Vernon is a free agent recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon. The Browns cut 32-year-old defensive end Adrain Clayborn, who had 3.5 sacks in 15 games last year.
Two free agents from the Browns — backup offensive lineman Kendall Lamm to the Titans and cornerback Terrance Mitchell to the Texans — signed with other teams. Mitchell is a bigger loss than it might seem at first thought considering cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams have problems staying healthy. Ward missed three games as a rookie in 2018 and four each of the last two seasons. Williams missed four games as a rookie in 2019 and all of 2020.
Ravens
The Ravens’ biggest move so far was signing right guard Kevin Zeitler to a three-year, $22 million contract. Baltimore is going to be a run-first offense again with quarterback Lamar Jackson and J.K. Dobbins leading the way (a league-most 3,071 yards as a team last season). Zeitler makes that attack even more potent.
The Ravens lost three pass rushers — Matt Judon to the Patriots, Jihad Ward to the Jaguars and Yannick Ngakoue to the Raiders. Judon had six sacks and 50 tackles last year.
Ngakoue had a strange 2020 season. He was traded from the Jaguars to the Vikings on Aug. 31 and then traded by the Vikings to the Ravens on Oct. 22. His three sacks and 11 tackles in nine games with Baltimore are not reflective of what he could do with a full offseason and training camp with the same team, as he will have with the Raiders.
The Ravens stopped the leaking on defense by resigning outside linebackers Tyus Bowers and Pernell McPhee plus defensive tackle Derek Wolfe.
Bengals
The Bengals have made significant gains and suffered significant losses, but they did not fill their biggest need of adding protection for Burrow. Had they signed Zeitler instead of watching him go to the rival Ravens it would already be a successful free agency season.
Trey Hendrickson, a defensive end on the Browns’ wish list, signed a fouryear, $60 million contract with the Bengals. That gain was offset by the loss of defensive end Carl Lawson, who left Cincinnati for the Jets and $45 million over three years.
The Bengals added cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie from the Cowboys and Mike Hilton from the Steelers, but lost cornerback William Jackson III to Washington.
Wide receivers A.J. Green and John Ross are gone. Green signed a oneyear deal with the Cardinals and Ross a one-year contract for $2.5 million with the Giants. Green is nearing the end of his career. Ross, picked ninth overall in 2017, ran a 4.22 40 at the Combine that year, but health issues limited him to 27 games in his four years with the Bengals — only three in 2020. He has 51 career receptions for 733 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Steelers
The Steelers were in salary cap jail from the moment the Browns knocked them out of the 2020 playoffs in a wild-card game.
Defensive end Bud Dupree signed a whopping five-year, $85 million contract with the Titans. Hilton signed for four years and $24 million with the Bengals. Defensive tackle Tyson Alualu, a solid run stopper, left Pittsburgh to head back to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Backup offensive guard Matt Feiler is now a Los Angeles Charger.
Inside linebacker Vince Williams, another run stopper, was released as a salary cap casualty after eight seasons.
The best the Stelers could do was to re-sign offensive tackle Zach Banner and re-sign cornerback Cameron Sutton.