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Cleveland Browns Should Consider Bradley McDougald in Free Agency
After parting ways with Tashaun Gipson, the Cleveland Browns found no stability at free safety. One option could be pending free agent Bradley McDougald.
The Cleveland Browns decided to allow free safety Tashaun Gipson to walk in free agency last offseason. Gipson went on to sign a five-year, $36 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, while the Browns struggled to find Gipson's replacement.
Jordan Poyer showed some potential at the position, but he was lost to a lacerated kidney after only six games. Ed Reynolds stepped in and performed as well as he could, though the experience he gained was more important than his actual contributions to the defense.
"You can learn a lot in the classroom and on the practice field," Reynolds said, per Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com, "but it's really those game reps that really can turn you into the player you want to be."
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Reynolds wasn't quite able to solidify the free safety spot, and the Browns tried moving cornerback Tramon Williams there. While a permanent move to the position might work for Williams, he was released shortly after the end of the season.
So Cleveland once again enters a new year with questions at the safety position—questions that many are sure to point out wouldn't exist had the team sprung to pay Gipson. The good news is that the Browns are equipped with draft picks and cap room to find an answer. With the current Browns regime focusing on building from the bottom up, the draft would be the ideal spot to find a new free safety, and there plenty of options to be had. If the Browns want to put their 11 draft picks to use at other positions, however, they might want to try adding a starting-caliber safety in free agency.
If this is the route the Browns choose to take to address the position, Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Bradley McDougald should be a top target. As Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated and TheMMQB.com points out, McDougald could be a real catch on the open market:
#Bucs S Bradley McDougald could be hidden FA gem. Very solid run-filler (especially out of split-safety looks).
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) February 21, 2017
McDougald is coming off a solid season in which he started all 16 games, logged 91 tackles, 10 passes defended and two interceptions. Pro Football Focus rated him 47th overall among all safeties for the season.
Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus also listed McDougald on his list of top 50 free agents this offseason, saying this of McDougald:
McDougald has been an inconsistent player for the Bucs, but the high points of his performance are very good, and if a team can iron out the bad, he could be a very useful player. McDougald is extremely active, having made over 75 solo tackles in each of the past two seasons; he also has 13 pass breakups over his three-year career.
McDougald would be an upgrade at the safety position for Cleveland, and perhaps more importantly, he is durable and consistent enough to solidify it. McDougald appeared in all 32 games over the past two seasons with Tampa, starting 31 of them. Per Pro Football Focus, he played 1,012 defensive snaps in 2016. Only 18 safeties played more.
Not only can McDougald offer the Browns value on the field, but he fits the team's vision of building with youth. He is only 26 years old and about to enter the prime of his playing career. McDougald wouldn't simply be a veteran stopgap at the free safety position, he could potentially be a long-term defensive piece. A bonus is that McDougald is an Ohio native who played his high school ball at Dublin Scioto—Browns fans seem to love their home-grown talent.
Of course, the Buccaneers should also be working hard to keep McDougald, so there's no guarantee that he'll actually hit the open market. If McDougald does remain unsigned when the "legal tampering" period begins on March 7, Cleveland should strongly consider making a run at him.
