The Browns sent middle linebacker Demario Davis back to the New York Jets on Thursday in a trade for safety Calvin Pryor.
Pryor, 24, was a first-round draft pick out of Louisville in 2014 (No. 18 overall) who started 38 of the 44 games in which he appeared the past three seasons.
But Pryor had a disappointing 2016 season and became expendable in April when the Jets drafted safeties in the first and second rounds _ Jamal Adams (No. 6 overall) and Marcus Maye (No. 39). The Jets reportedly tried to trade Pryor during the draft and later declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract.
ESPN reported the Jets had planned to cut Pryor, who recently angered some in the organization by skipping the first practice of organized team activities. When he showed up for the second practice, he had been demoted to the third-team defense.
Pryor has compiled 184 tackles, two interceptions, 14 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and a half sack in three NFL seasons. He started all 15 games in which he appeared last season and tallied 60 tackles, six passes defensed and one forced fumble.
"Calvin is a young, experienced safety that has upside," Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said in a news release. "We are pleased to be able to add him to our defensive back room and just like every player we acquire, we expect him to come in with a hard-working mindset ready to compete."
Like Browns rookie Jabrill Peppers, a first-round pick (No. 25 overall), Pryor is a strong safety, so defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is expected to be creative to get them both on the field. Peppers may play linebacker in certain packages while Pryor mans the strong safety position, or those roles could be reversed. Perhaps Williams views Pryor, 5-foot-11 and 207 pounds, as a hybrid player, too.
Ed Reynolds and Tyvis Powell are competing for the starting free safety job. But the Browns have said veteran cornerback Jason McCourty, who signed a two-year, $6 million contract with Cleveland two weeks ago, may move to free safety.
Williams has already shown some three-safety packages during OTAs.
Davis, 28, left the Jets last year as a free agent by signing a two-year, $8 million contract with the Browns. He played all 16 games last season as an inside linebacker in the 3-4 scheme used by former Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton and started 15 of them. He ranked second on team with 99 tackles to go along with two sacks, two passes defensed and one forced fumble. He started every game for the Jets from 2013-15.
"Demario is a guy that we developed the utmost respect for in his time with our team, not only as a professional but also as a person," Brown said in the release. "We appreciate all he did for our organization in his time in Cleveland."
Davis had been penciled in as the starting middle linebacker in Williams' 4-3 base defense with Jamie Collins at strongside linebacker and Christian Kirksey at weakside linebacker. Williams employs a nickel or dime package most of the time, and like last season, Davis would have been the linebacker to come off the field in those situations, leaving Collins and Kirksey.
So it remains to be seen who'll receive snaps at linebacker alongside Collins and Kirksey when the Browns feature three of them. Pryor and Peppers are possibilities, and special-teams ace Tank Carder, Dominique Alexander and Joe Schobert are among the other candidates. Kirksey could move to middle linebacker at times, something he has been doing in certain packages during OTAs.
The bottom line on the trade from the Browns' perspective is they feel really good about Collins and Kirksey leading their corps of linebackers moving forward and wanted to add more experience to their secondary. That led them to Pryor.
Regardless of the exact role Pryor fills, the Browns need him to improve as a tackler. According to ProFootballFocus.com, he has 30 career run stops and 23 missed tackles. The analytics-driven website gave him an overall grade that ranked 74th among 90 safeties last season.
Both Pryor and Davis will enter the final season of their contracts in the fall. Pryor is scheduled to make $1.6 million and Davis $3.7 million.
Davis released a statement on Instagram about his departure from Cleveland.
"I want to thank (Browns owners) Jimmy and Dee (Haslam), Sashi Brown, (vice president of player personnel) Andrew Berry, and (coach) Hue Jackson for giving me the opportunity to spend an amazing year with the Cleveland Browns," Davis wrote. "I have nothing but good things to say about this 1st class organization, that's on its way to shocking the world.
"To my brothers in the lockerroom; the stage is set, go make it happen. In this past year, I've grown as a person and a player in ways that wouldn't have happened in any other circumstance. For that I'm thankful to the one who's in control, the man upstairs. Be blessed Cleveland! New York City ... (Hashtag)ImComingHome."
