The Cleveland Browns have agreed to a deal with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons defensive end Adrian Clayborn.
One area of need for the Cleveland Browns was depth on the defensive line. Cleveland is now one step closer to having enough depth on their defensive line with the signing of Adrian Clayborn.
Adrian Clayborn is signing a two-year deal with Cleveland worth up to $7 million with incentives per reports. Clayborn was drafted by Tampa Bay with the 20th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. After four years in Tampa, Clayborn spent three in Atlanta, followed by one in New England, and one final year with the Falcons last season. The 31-year old edge rusher had a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2017. Clayborn only managed 6.5 sacks in the last two seasons combined.
The last time Clayborn started in the majority of the games he appeared in was back in 2016 with Atlanta, starting seven of the 13 games he appeared in. Adrian Clayborn should slide in nicely with the Browns rotation on the defensive line. Working with Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon to put together a competent pass rush.
Ideally the signing of Clayborn does not impact the roster status of Olivier Vernon. Vernon is someone who has essentially had a target on his back for quite some time and many expected the Browns to go in a different direction. If Vernon stays this signing is great. If Vernon goes and Clayborn is expected to replace him as a starter, that would be a problem.
