With a few days to go before the start of free agency, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry are preparing to make their first additions to the roster of their tenure. One of the main focuses will be regarding the defense.
With help needed on all three levels of the defense, new defensive coordinator Joe Woods will definitely have input on who the team adds starting March 18th.
In his 16 seasons coaching in the NFL, Woods has made a few stops along the way. He started as a defensive quality control coach in Tampa Bay for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Following his start, he went onto the Minnesota Vikings where he was the defensive backs coach from 2006 until 2013. This is also the same time that he and Stefanski started with the Vikings.
Woods went on to be the defensive backs coach in Oakland for the 2014 season before leaving for the same position in Denver in 2015. He was promoted to the role of defensive coordinator in 2017 and was not retained by Broncos head coach Vic Fangio following the 2018 season.
He landed with the San Francisco 49ers in 2019, returning to his role of defensive backs coach while also being named the passing game coordinator.
With all that being said, here are seven free agents with ties to Woods the Browns could target…
Aqib Talib, CB, Miami Dolphins
Time with Joe Woods: Denver Broncos (2015-17)
2019 Stats: Five starts, 14 tackles
By the end of the 2019 season, the Cleveland Browns had five different starting outside cornerbacks due to injuries that plagued the secondary. Those injury woes paired with the lack of veterans in the secondary; T.J. Carrie, 29, and Morgan Burnett, 31, were the oldest players among defensive backs on the team.
Talib dealt with his own share of injuries in 2019, only playing in five games, as well as dealing with a trade to the Miami Dolphins midseason. A change of scenery and reunion with his former defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator could be beneficial for both parties.
Under Woods, the Cleveland native registered his two top seasons according to Pro Football Focus, as well as made First-Team All-Pro in 2017.
For Talib, this could be less pressure on him to be the full-time starter and he can be the veteran that young players like Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams can lean on as they adjust to the new defense.
Marcus Sherels, CB, Minnesota Vikings
Time with Joe Woods: Minnesota Vikings (2010-13)
2019 Stats: Eight games played, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery
When talking about cornerback depth options on the Browns in 2019, you have to give credit where it’s due. Terrence Mitchell, Special Teams ace Tavierre Thomas, and undrafted rookie Robert Jackson performed admirably down the stretch. They should not have needed to be relied upon as much as they had been.
A great signing would be veteran cornerback Marcus Sherels. Sherels knows Woods from their time in Minnesota, and Woods was the defensive backs coach when he was signed as an undrafted free agent. Sherels has made a career as a special teams player. Bringing him in would add competition to the back end of the roster and someone the young players can lean on early on.
Jimmie Ward, S, San Francisco 49ers
Time with Joe Woods: San Francisco 49ers (2018-19)
2019 Stats: 13 starts, 60 tackles (two for a loss), one sack, eight pass deflections
There’s no way to sugarcoat this: The Browns need safeties.
It’s bad. Emoji Movie-level bad.
With safety Morgan Burnett tearing his Achilles on Thursday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Damarious Randall and Justin Burris heading towards free agency, the folks in Berea need a lot of help defending the middle of the field.
In his lone season with the 49ers, Joe Woods worked with safety Jimmie Ward, and to say that Ward thrived would be an understatement.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ward had his best season as a pro, rated as the tenth best safety in all of football and 17th best in coverage. Ward prided himself on his ability to cover, allowing multiple catches in a game just three times all season including the postseason.
Picking up a safety like Ward would allow Woods to focus more on the front seven, which will be coming up soon…
Darian Stewart, S, Tampa Bay Buccanneers
Time with Joe Woods: Denver Broncos (2015-18)
2019 Stats: 13 games played (one start), nine tackles, one pass deflection
So remember that help at safety the Browns need?
It isn’t just the starters…
With youngsters Sheldrick Redwine, J.T. Hassell and Montrell Meander on the roster, the team lacks the depth that had been exposed in the 2019 season.
In comes veteran Darian Stewart. Is he the complete answer? No, but with a position that is very young and dealing with a new system, someone like Stewart can be relied upon as a cheap, guiding voice for some of these players. Stewart shouldn’t be looked at as a starter but can be useful as a rotational piece for Woods.
Players like Stewart always have a role in a locker room like the Browns, which is in transition once again.
Danny Trevathan, LB, Chicago Bears
Time with Joe Woods: Denver Broncos (2015)
2019 Stats: nine starts, 70 tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, one pass deflection, one forced fumble
With Joe Schobert’s departure likely, the Browns will have two choices for veteran leadership among the linebackers: keep Christian Kirksey, or sign a veteran on the open market.
In this case, it would be the latter of the two. Trevathan has experience playing with Woods in 2015, albeit in a different positional group. The eight-year pro dealt with some injury issues in Chicago, missing 21 games in his four seasons with the Bears.
Trevathan, a Youngstown native, would provide the leadership that Mack Wilson and Sione Takitaki could depend on as their careers advance.
Bradley Roby, CB, Houston Texans
Time with Joe Woods: Denver Broncos (2015-18)
2019 Stats: 10 starts, 38 tackles (two for a loss), one sack, two interceptions, one touchdown, six pass deflections
As with Talib, cornerback Bradley Roby is an interesting case to add to the cornerback room. Roby, who has been mainly an outside cornerback would provide great depth and youth (turns 28 years old on May 1st).
The interesting wrinkle came as I researched Roby. In 2019, Roby had pretty good success in the slot, allowing 0.97 yards per snap in slot coverage. While this was a small sample size, just 147 snaps in all (about half as many as most starting slot cornerbacks), I do believe it would be a worthy signing to see if he could perform in that role.
Chris Harris Jr., CB, Denver Broncos
Time with Joe Woods: Denver Broncos (2015-18)
2019 Stats: 16 starts, 56 tackles, one interception, six pass deflections, one forced fumble
With the release of cornerback T.J. Carrie and pending free agent status of defensive back Eric Murray, the Browns are in dire need of a slot cornerback.
I’m not talking running on lack of sleep for 48 hours dire… More like the movie “127 Hours” dire…
If the Cleveland Browns were a patient in the Emergency Room, Chris Harris Jr. is precisely what the doctor ordered. Harris Jr., in his first season without Woods as his defensive backs coach or defensive coordinator, had the worst statistical season of his career according to Pro Football Focus.
Under Woods, Harris Jr. became known as one of, if not THE, top slot corners in the National Football League, being named to the Pro Bowl in every season except 2017 and was named First-Team All-Pro in 2016.
Not only would Harris provide the best slot cornerback the team has seen in quite some time, but also a good veteran presence in the defensive backs room for young players like Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Focus, Pro-Football-Reference
