Briean Boddy-Calhoun is set to become a restricted free agent. The versatile defensive back is a player other teams might desire enough to give the Browns compensation to acquire him, too.
Boddy-Calhoun just completed his third season in Cleveland, playing out a 3-year, $1.62 million deal he originally signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota. The Browns quickly claimed him when he failed to make Jacksonville’s final 53-man roster back in 2016.
That has proven to be a great move for Cleveland. Boddy-Calhoun has started games at four different spots in the secondary (both safety spots, outside corner and slot corner) while playing about 55 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in those three seasons.
His peculiar usage in Gregg Williams’ defense makes it hard to determine just how valuable he is for the Browns. Aside from never really having a defined role, Boddy-Calhoun’s playing time wildly fluctuated; he played just one snap in Week 5 but 95 in Week 7 and has several other similar peak-valley patterns in his snap counts.
At his best, the plucky and engaging defender has proven to be one of the league’s better coverage safeties and a capable, twitchy slot corner. Other times he has looked slow to identify his assignment and misses easy tackles.
The Browns have great depth at safety and appear to have a keeper in T.J. Carrie as the slot corner when all the CBs are healthy. That leaves Boddy-Calhoun as the No. 4 safety and backup slot CB in the Cleveland defense. That’s a role for a league-minimum contract or a special teams ace like Tavierre Thomas, not someone who can command a 2-year, $2.5 million contract.
Another NFL team will likely value Boddy-Calhoun that way. Will the Browns be compelled to match? We’ll find out in March…
