Browns roster: Options for Myle Garrett’s bookend on the D-Line

The Browns defense is poised to recapture that #1 spot this year

The Cleveland Browns defense was ranked #1 in the league just one season ago, following the 2023 season. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was named the NFL Assistant Coach of the Year for his efforts.

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That season, the Browns’ defensive backfield was ranked near the top of most categories. #2 in total passing yards (3,149), #1 in fewest completions (307), tied for #1 in fewest plays of 20+ yards (39), #5 in interceptions (18), and #1 in fewest receptions for first down conversions.

Despite being ranked as the league’s best defense, the run-stopping game had its ups and downs. The only categories that were near the top were: #1 ranking for fewest rushes for first down conversions (87), #1 ranking of fewest third down attempts made (67), #2 in fewest fourth down attempts made, and #1 in total tackles (924).

For 2024, almost all of these numbers flipped. Especially against the run.

Part of the reason was due to attrition. DTs Mo Hurst and Shelby Harris were hurt for several games each and spent time on IR. Rookie DT Mike Hall spent the first part of the season on the commissioner’s exempt list due to an August 2024 arrest on domestic violence charges. DE Alex Wright also spent time on IR with a torn triceps and missed 13 games.

Going into this offseason, the focus has been to find guys who are run-stoppers as their greatest skill set.

Browns GM Andrew Berry signed DT Ralph Holley from Grey Cup champions Toronto Argonauts in January and then re-signed LB Devin Bush, who had 76 total tackles for Cleveland last year and was successful against the run. Berry then released DT Dalvin Tomlinson and his expensive contract, and in a corresponding move, inked DT Maliek Collins from the San Francisco 49ers, who had 33 tackles and five sacks.

LB Jerome Baker was signed as a free agent, then Berry drafted DT Mason Graham of Michigan and LB Carson Schwesinger from UCLA with the Browns’ first two picks in the NFL draft. Both drafted players are known for being run stuffers and good tacklers.

All of this activity should solve the problem of being able to stop the run. But what about the pass rush?

That question should have an emphasis on a Cleveland defender coming off the edge.

The current situation

One thing for certain: the left defensive end is certainly unscrambled. All-World EDGE rusher Myles Garrett has this pretty well solved.

His backup listed on the depth chart is Wright, ready to come in and give Garrett a breather. Wright (6’-5”, 267 pounds) was taken in Round 3 of the 2022 NFL draft and was thought of as a future starting defensive end. That just hasn’t happened. So, for now, he languishes between Garrett and gets reps whenever he can. In three seasons, he has just six starts, 61 total tackles, nine pressures, and six sacks. Not exactly “change the world” stats for a third-round selection, but competent backup material.

But what about the other side? An issue, or solved?

Going into training camp this year, that starting position is penciled in as Isaiah McGuire (6’-4”, 268 pounds), who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft. McGuire has come a long way in his development, and after the Browns shipped off RDE Za’Darius Smith at the trade deadline last year, it was McGuire who received the bulk of Smith’s snaps. McGuire ended the season with 469 snaps, which was 43.27% of defensive reps. He ended up with three starts, 36 total tackles, and 3.5 sacks, along with 12 pressures, and played in 16 games.

The big question: Is McGuire the answer? Or should another defensive end already on the roster be considered for the role instead?

Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that by the end of training camp, the defensive tackle group is solved with four bodies left on the main roster, with the balance waived and then signed to the practice squad. Schwartz rotates his DTs frequently during each game so all four get plenty of snaps.

Not so with defensive end.

Schwartz wants his two outside pass rushers to play most of the game, with the second-tier guys coming in mostly on rest downs for the starter, and participate quite a bit in the third quarter. This prepares the starting ends to be fresh for the final stanza.

Garrett’s outside position is obviously solved. That leaves the right EDGE rusher as an enquiry.

McGuire’s qualifications are that he has good speed with a 4.76 time in the 40. He has a quick burst off the line and seems to be able to time snaps very well. He is a naturally explosive player with heavy hands to ward off bigger offensive linemen. McGuire isn’t especially adept in pursuit, though, and doesn’t show much in lateral movement skills.

The coaching staff loves McGuire. They see him as the best answer to play opposite Garrett. Veteran DE Ogbo Okoronkwo (6’-2”, 250 pounds) was also seen as a possible starter for the rightside before he was released.

In free agency, Berry inked Joe Tryon-Shoyinka from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was instantly listed as the backup to McGuire, along with Okoronkwo.

Tryon-Shoyinka (6’-5”, 259 pounds) was a first-round pick of the Bucs in the 2021 NFL draft, taken with the final pick in that round after a stellar career at the University of Washington. In high school, Tryon-Shoyinka was named “Regional Defensive Lineman of the Year.” He also has good quickness and runs a 4.68. He was signed to the Browns on a one-year deal and never had the huge production Tampa Bay expected, which did not exercise his fifth-year option and allowed him to seek employment elsewhere.

He played in 66 games with 45 starts and had only 138 career tackles in four seasons. His sack total is 15 with 21 tackles for loss, 35 QB hits, one fumble recovery, two forced fumbles, eight batted passes, 73 pressures, 22 knockdowns, and 36 hurries. So, he does get pressure in the offensive backfield.

Most likely, McGuire vs. Tryon-Shoyinka will become a battle throughout training camp.

The other defensive ends on the roster are Cameron Thomas (6’-4”, 265 pounds), Julian Okwara (6’-4”, 240 pounds), and Elerson G. Smith (6’-7”, 245 pounds).

Is there an EDGE problem?

Ideally, every NFL defensive coordinator wants to create constant pressure in the opposing team’s offensive backfield every time they drop back to pass.

Going in April, the Browns owned the #2 overall pick in the NFL draft that was coming up. It was already determined that the Tennessee Titans, who had the first overall selection, would take QB Cam Ward from Miami. That meant Cleveland would have their choice.

It was assumed the Browns would choose either WR/CB Travis Hunter of Colorado or Penn State EDGE rusher Abdul Carter. The realization of having Carter manning the opposite side from Garrett was very appealing. In the end, the pick was traded, and DT Graham was the pick instead in order to solve the run-stopping game up the middle.

Tryon-Shoyinka had been signed before the draft. In a shocking move, the Browns terminated the contract of Okoronkwo on June 26, a month before training camp. This meant the McGuire vs. Tryon-Shoyinka was pretty much game on.

Are either of these two the answer? If not, what is still out there?

A quick look at the available free agent EDGE rushers has quite a few well-known names: Carl Lawson (age 30), William Gholston (34), Clelin Ferrell (28), Jerry Hughes (38), former Brown Jadeveon Clowney (32), Brandon Graham (37), and another former Browns defender: Za’Darius Smith (33).

Smith (6’-4”, 270 pounds) was traded to the Detroit Lions last year along with a 2026 seventh-round draft pick at the trade deadline for a 2025 fifth-round selection plus a 2026 sixth-round pick in what became a one-year rental to compensate for DE Aidan Hutchinson’s injury.

The Browns then used that fifth-round pick in the QB Kenny Pickett trade.

Should the Browns reach out to Smith?

While with Cleveland during his two-and-a-half seasons, his stats were as follows: 25 games played, 25 starts, 50 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, 27 QB hits, one forced fumble, three batted passes, 39 pressures, 16 knockdowns, and 12 hurries.

Cleveland had signed Smith to a two-year, $23,000,000 contract, including a $10,790,000 signing bonus with $12,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $11,500,000.

Tryon-Shoyinka penned a one-year, $4.75 million contract with $4.19 million guaranteed.

In comparison, McGuire is still on his rookie deal, which runs through the 2026 season and has an average annual value of $1,137,983. The contract is for four years for $4,551,932 with a $711,932 signing bonus and $711,932 guaranteed.

With Detroit, Smith played in just eight games and produced with four sacks, 10 QB hits, and 15 pressures, as highlights of his half season, in which they paid Smith just $605,000. In March, the Lions released him, which cleared his entire $5.7275 million cap hit.

Throughout his career, Smith has been pretty durable. In his 10 NFL seasons, he has finished with 8.5 sacks or more in five different seasons, including 13.5 in 2019 and 12.5 the following year.

McGuire is an up-and-coming talent. Tryon-Shoyinka is a first-round disappointment looking to rejuvenate his career.

The Browns got some solid production from Smith, who is a proven player and already familiar with Schwartz’s defense, and would be plug-and-play-and-produce.

He already knows the defense and the coaches. There isn’t a new scheme to learn or different terminology. If Cleveland signed Smith, what would they have to do?

Fit him for a jersey.