3 safeties not named Earl Thomas the Browns can sign
The Cleveland Browns could sign Earl Thomas, but here are three other safeties they could sign instead.
Earl Thomas’ tenure with the Baltimore Ravens came to an abrupt end, with a fight in practice last Friday leading to his release on Sunday. He shouldn’t have much trouble finding a new team, even with bad endings with the Seahawk and Ravens now.
The Cleveland Browns had a couple injuries in their secondary during Monday’s practice. The most notable was rookie free safety Grant Delpit, who suffered a torn Achilles. He was projected to start, and his season is of course over before it starts.
Cleveland now has a real hole at the safety spot opposite Karl Joseph. Andrew Sendejo is the top in-house candidate to take over at free safety, but it’s safe to assume the Browns are looking at free agent options. Thomas is now No. 1 on the list of free agent safeties, but there are a few other solid options available.
If the Browns don’t want to invite the headache Thomas may bring, the talent drop-off to other free agent safeties might not be as steep as it seems based on Thomas’ reputation.
If they don’t seriously engage on Thomas, or just look at all their options, here are three other free agent safeties the Browns could sign.
3 safeties the Browns could sign not named Earl Thomas
3. Tony Jefferson
After letting Thomas go, the Ravens could bring back an old friend in Jefferson. He suffered a torn ACL last season, but he’s apparently he’s close to being fully healthy and garnering interest from multiple teams.
On the phone w/ free agent S & former Raven Tony Jefferson (Knee: ACL/LCL) who tells me that he feels 2-4 weeks away from beginning team visits. He said he knows of 4-6 teams "ready to rock" with him once ready. Right now he's gaming, after he said I woke him up to answer phone.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) August 22, 2020
The 2-4 week timetable for Jefferson to even start visiting teams pushed up against the scheduled start of the season. But the Browns should still be ready to bring him in, assuming they don’t sign someone else of note in the meantime.