The Cleveland Browns put a lot of assets toward their secondary over the last few years starting with the drafting of Denzel Ward. They have since drafted Greedy Williams and Grant Delpit in back-to-back second rounds of NFL drafts, traded for Ronnie Harrison, signed John Johnson III and Troy Hill in free agency before adding Greg Newsome II in this year’s NFL draft.
Last year, the Browns secondary played poorly a majority of the season. Williams and Delpit missed the entire year for Cleveland while both Ward and Harrison missed a few games as well.
In a conference where the Browns must combat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, upgrading the secondary is vital.
With all of their new additions, as well as the returns from injuries of Williams and Delpit, Cleveland’s secondary is getting a lot of love from the media and fans.
Pro Football Focus, which has been rankings specific positions as well as units all offseason, recently ranked the Browns as having the third-best secondary in the NFL despite a few new pieces and a few unproven pieces:
3. CLEVELAND BROWNS
This Cleveland secondary will look very different from last year’s iteration. Not only did the team add John Johnson III and Troy Hill from the Rams in free agency, but it also spent a first-round draft pick on Greg Newsome II in the 2021 NFL Draft. Newsome is coming off an excellent 2020 season at Northwestern in which he allowed just 12 catches on 34 targets. Those additions are supplemented by the returns of Greedy Williams and Grant Delpit from injury last year to give the Browns a much deeper group heading into next season.
The versatility and diversity of the team’s secondary stand out as well as their depth, as noted by PFF.
Looking at their list, PFF has five AFC teams ranked before an NFC team, the Green Bay Packers. Ranked above the Browns are the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens. Denver, like Cleveland, retooled their secondary this offseason while Baltimore continues to have continuity from year to year.
The Browns have a lot riding on the upcoming season and their secondary has a lot to prove with expectations being very, very high.