The Cleveland Browns still have an obvious hole on their defense, the defensive line. That can be addressed by signing both Jadeveon Clowney and Ndamukong Suh. Clowney and Suh have been linked to Cleveland lately and could provide short-term help while they look to take the next step forward as a team.
At this point in their careers, Clowney and Suh are both better utilized in a rotational format. Clowney had his best season in years in 2021 with 74% of defensive snaps played while Suh played a career-low in snaps (63%) but registered his highest sack total since 2015 with six.
From a playing style standpoint these two would wreak havoc on opposing offenses. Clowney and Suh are both able to single-handedly create chaos. If the Browns were to have both players on the field at the same time with Myles Garrett this defensive line could be scary. Perhaps Cleveland could try out the idea that has been kicked around of kicking Clowney inside. Having the chaos of Clowney and Suh creating the much needed internal pressure get quarterbacks off their marks could result in even more sacks for Garrett and whoever is the starter opposite of him, whether that happens to be Chase Winovich, Alex Wright, or any other player added by Week 1.
What these hypothetical additions would do that has not been mentioned yet is create depth on the defensive line. Jordan Elliott, Taven Bryan, Perrion Winfrey, Tommy Togai, Glen Logan, Sheldon Day, and Roderick Perry II as possible starters is not all that exciting. Having these players as part-time rotation options with Clowney and Suh is highly intriguing. By making a short-term commitment to both the Browns could get the most out of them while developing their current players on the defensive line. One final thing that will definitely be appealing to someone such as Andrew Berry, it preserves long-term flexibility. They do not have to make multi-year commitments to either player which would allow them an out should this experiment not work. This aspect cannot be overlooked due the injury history of Clowney and the age of Suh (35).
At the end of the day the Browns agreeing to deals with both players turns what is a clear weakness on their defense into strength. That’s what the team building process is all about, right?
