Matthews Adams played four seasons on Bubba Ventrone's special teams in Indianapolis. He's the fourth core special teamer signed by GM Andrew Berry in the 2023 transaction season. (USA Today)
Browns GM Andrew Berry's final grade in free agency hinges on receiver acquisition
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Through two weeks of the prime NFL transaction season, the Browns have made 12 major signings and re-signings. None really has created a big splash. But taken together, the team has been improved.
There’s at least one more acquisition to come – a wide receiver. Fairly or unfairly, GM Andrew Berry’s Transaction Class of 2023 will be judged by the receiver he acquires.
The name most associated with the Browns is Jerry Jeudy of Denver. A trade for Jeudy figures to include the Browns’ second-round draft pick, No. 42 overall, and possibly a player. I have heard a name the Broncos supposedly have asked for and I won’t repeat it because it is out of bounds. If the Broncos insist on him, the deal won’t get done.
If the Jeudy trade falls through, other possible trade targets are Hunter Renfrow of the Raiders, and Elijah Smith or Corey Davis or Denzel Mims of the Jets.
Free agency doesn’t seem to interest the Browns at this time at the receiver position, though they reportedly visited with Marquise Goodwin of the Seahawks on Tuesday. Goodwin turns 33 in November.
If Berry is unable to land a veteran receiver, it would mandate addressing the position with the No. 42 overall draft pick. I get the vibe that Berry would rather acquire a veteran and then trade down from No. 42 to collect an extra pick.
So, Berry’s final big move in the veteran market would definitely affect his draft strategy.
Until then, we have enough to go on to assess Berry’s fourth transaction season. We will assign a number from 1 to 10 to every transaction, with 1 being trash and 10 superlative. We will add up all the scores and divide by 12 to determine Berry’s grade so far.
New players
Defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson
The consensus has been that Berry HAD to overpay (four years/$57 million) for a predominantly run-stuffing nose tackle after interior penetrators Javon Hargrave and Dre’Mont Jones nixed the Browns for greener pastures. I’m not sure Tomlinson was the next-best alternative. There are analytics sites that laud this acquisition. All I know is he has averaged 59 percent of the snaps on Minnesota defenses that ranked 31st and 30th in yards allowed under two different coordinators. What am I missing?
Score: 6.5.
Defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
His first three NFL seasons with the Rams were riddled with injuries and non-productivity as a 3-4 stand-up linebacker. The move to the Texans as a 4-3 defensive end resulted in a “breakthrough” season – career highs of five sacks and 44 percent play time. He’ll be 28 in April. Most sack artists have a couple double-digit sack seasons by that age. He’s 6-1 and 253 pounds. I don’t see him increasing his play time beyond, say, 55 percent snaps. Could he approach 10 sacks? Sure. But most analysts are over-hyping this acquisition as if Berry discovered the next great edge rusher. That is a stretch.
Score: 6.0.
Free safety Juan Thornhill
Keep in mind that Berry created the need here by dumping John Johnson after two years of a three-year free agent deal. In two years with the Browns, Johnson made 161 tackles, nine passes defensed, and four interceptions, and he allowed three touchdowns, per profootballreference.com. Johnson limited QBs to ratings of 70.1 and 82.8 when targeting him, according to the Website. Over that same two years, Thornhill was the Chiefs’ starting free safety. His comparative figures in the categories above were 135 tackles, 12 passes defensed, four interceptions, and he allowed seven touchdowns. Thornhill limited QBs to ratings of 108.6 and 105.6 when targeting him. Now, I actually liked the signing of Thornhill as a rebound move. But to suggest he is a quantum improvement over Johnson just doesn’t wash.
Score: 6.5.
Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst
Hurst’s draft status in 2018 plummeted because of a congenital heart condition. He had 7.5 sacks his first two years and then injuries curtailed his play time and production. This one-year deal is low-risk and could prove to be a gem. If not, nothing lost, nothing gained.
Score: 7.0.
Defensive tackle Trysten Hill
Hill was a second-round pick of the Cowboys in 2019. They took him at No. 58 ahead of other defensive tackles who have produced much more in their NFL careers – Zach Allen (65th), Dre’Mont Jones (71st), and Greg Gaines (134th). Much like Hurst, this is a low-risk, high-reward stab.
Score: 6.0.
Tight end Jordan Akins
While fans fantasized of reuniting Deshaun Watson with former receiver teammates DeAndre Hopkins or Brandin Cooks, nobody expected this obscure tight end to actually be the one. Akins was a third-round pick in 2018 by Houston in Watson’s second season. Over the next three seasons, he averaged 30 receptions for 349 yards and one TD. He had his best year by far in 2022 with 495 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Those are better numbers than Browns TE2 Harrison Bryant has put up, so Akins figures to slide into the No. 2 role behind David Njoku.
Score: 6.0.
Cornerback Michael Ford
Ford has professed himself on social media as the “best gunner in the league.” He has started nine games at cornerback in five seasons with three teams, but clearly came to the Browns as a core player on Bubba Ventrone’s revamped special teams. He has 1,067 snaps on ‘teams; 635 on defense.
Score: 6.0.
Linebacker Matthew Adams
Adams was a seventh-round draft choice of the Colts in 2018. In his first season as Colts special teams coordinator, Ventrone made Adams one of his core players. Adams played for Ventrone for four years before spending 2022 with the Bears. In his career, he has 1,307 snaps on special teams; 508 on defense.
Score: 7.0.
Re-signed players
Center Ethan Pocic
The Browns budgeted for this surprise re-signing when they added a void year to Watson’s contract restructuring to create about $10 million more in salary cap room than the expected $26 million with the simplest salary-to-bonus conversion. It was a worthwhile investment. Pocic displayed surprising mobility in coach Bill Callahan’s wide-zone blocking scheme and proved a difficult-to-replace anchor of the offensive line.
Score: 9.0.
Linebacker Sione Takitaki
Takitaki’s torn ACL suffered in the game in Houston in early December probably made him destined to return on a one-year contract. No free agent changes teams after such a late injury. Good for the Browns, but bad for Takitaki. He’ll miss at least the first six games if he begins the season on the PUP list. He’ll be another key member of Ventrone’s special teams, at the very least.
Score: 8.0.
Linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk
Another core special team player, he has 751 career snaps on special teams and 120 on defense.
Score: 7.5.
Quarterback Josh Dobbs
I don’t want to make too much of this. Dobbs should play a lot in the four preseason games and then fall into oblivion if Watson does what the Browns expect of him. But Berry deserves credit for admitting an error by waiving Dobbs in December. He lured back Dobbs with a fully guaranteed contract for $2 million. It really eases coach Kevin Stefanski from having to break in another quarterback in his system in training camp. Dobbs is the ideal backup at this stage of his career and with exposure last year to the Browns’ offense. Actually, the Browns benefitted from Dobbs’ two-game stint as an emergency starter for the Titans at the end of 2022. It gave him much-needed live game action and proved he can play in the league.
Score: 8.5
So, by my scoring system, Berry scored 84 points over 12 player transactions. That computes to an overall grade of 7.0 on a 10-point scale. Good, not great.
