The Cleveland Browns spent all offseason looking to upgrade their defense after a difficult performance for most of the 2020 season. General manager Andrew Berry was active in free agency as well as the NFL draft to make sure the team was in a better position on the defensive side of the ball.
The offseason included the additions of Jadeveon Clowney, Takk McKinley, Anthony Walker, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Troy Hill, Greg Newsome II and John Johnson III, among others.
With those additions came a few subtractions. Some ended up with other teams like Tavierre Thomas, Terrance Mitchell, Larry Ogunjobi and Sheldon Richardson. Others ended up on the Browns practice squad including players like Porter Gustin.
At the end of Week 1, there were still a former Browns out there in free agency. On Tuesday of Week 2, two former defensive starters found new homes.
BJ Goodson signs with the Jets
(AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
BJ Goodson was an interesting player for Cleveland in 2020. He graded at 65.4 overall for Pro Football Focus including a quality 66.6 coverage grade. Far from perfect, Goodson was a leader in the middle of the defense and played an important, if limited, role. Now, he gets to try to do the same for the New York Jets:
It is surprising that it took this long for the former starting linebacker to sign but even more surprising is the $2.1 million he could make with the Jets. Details are not known of what would need to happen for him to earn that amount but it is still a large sum if he is able to. The Browns brought in Walker and Owusu-Koramoah while retaining Malcolm Smith instead of Goodson in the offseason.
Andrew Sedenjo is Indy bound
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
While the Goodson signing was surprising for how long it took and the amount of money he got, that Andrew Sendejo signed with a team at all is shocking. Last year, forced into duty when Grant Delpit was injured, Sendejo struggled mightily. PFF graded Sendejo at 43.8 overall and with one of the lowest coverage grades, 40.9, in the NFL. All of that was good enough for the desperate Indianapolis Colts who confirmed his signing today:
It is quite shocking, after watching him in 2020, that Sendejo has made it back to the NFL but the Colts have a need that he can fill in place of Davis. We will see how that turns out for Sendejo and the Colts.
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