BROWNS BATTING ONLY .500 IN FREE AGENCY SO FAR
By STEVE KING
“Safety first,” and “What’s the rush?” are two old-school sayings that seem to epitomize the Browns’ big free-agent signings of safety John Johnson and defensive end Takk McKinley.
The Browns desperately needed a talented, productive, difference-making safety to anchor the back end of their defense, and by all accounts, they got one in Johnson, who left the Los Angeles Rams to sign a three-year deal. The Browns were slow and plodding at safety last season, and teams obviously took advantage of it, Johnson’s presence should really help solve that problem.
But an even more effective way to slow down the passing game — it works every time it’s tried — is to harass the quarterback, and the Browns also went into free agency sorely needing someone to help defensive end Myles Garrett do that. I’m not sure that getting McKinley on a one-year show-me deal does much to fill that void. In fact, if I were pressed to make an honest determination — that’s what we all try to do and like to do — I’d say the Browns didn’t move the meter at all. McKinley, a former first-round pick in the NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, has been a bust, no question about it. I don’t know why that would change now. The Browns let too many good edge-rushers sign elsewhere before settling for McKinley. And that’s what they did in that they settled for a ho-hum player.
There are projected to be a lot of talented pass rushers in the draft, and the Browns are gambling that they’ll get one. I trust the Browns’ judgment — General Manager Andrew Berry and the other guys in the front office are smart, as they proved last year — but nonetheless, you have to question the move until you see how it all pays out.
The problem is that if McKinley doesn’t cut it and their young guy struggles as a rookie, then the Browns will have wasted a year of this window of opportunity for this group of players to get to the franchise’s Super Bowl. Signing a big-time end in free agency would have given the Browns a proven commodity, just as they got in the signing of Johnson. And with that, they would have addressed the two biggest needs on the entire team.
Remember, this is not about managing the salary cap necessarily, but rather, it’s about winning games and eventually the Super Bowl. I think the Browns understand this, but I can’t say for sure after what they;’ve done at end.
