The Cleveland Browns added some depth to their secondary on Saturday, inking former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Donovan Olumba to a deal, according to multiple sources.
Olumba was mostly a practice squad player for the Cowboys, playing in just one game and 38 total snaps. The highlight of Olumba’s NFL career so far came in the preseason, when he returned an interception for a touchdown against Tampa Bay.
Olumba played his college ball at Portland State. He’s projected to be mostly a special teams contributor for the Browns. The current starters at cornerback for the Browns are Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams.
Terms of the deal were not immediately available, but it will likely be a one-year deal like the Browns have done with so many of their other free agents.
Browns Load up on Defensive Backs
Olumba is the second cornerback and fourth defensive back that the Browns have signed in free agency. Former first round pick Kevin Johnson was the other cornerback.
Johnson, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2015 draft, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Texans before signing with the Buffalo Bills last season. Johnson played on 32.4 percent of the Bills defense snaps last season and also contributed on special teams.
Johnson’s deal is for one year and $3.5 million. He can make as much as $6 million via incentives, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Other additions included safeties Karl Joseph and Andrew Sendejo.
Joseph, who was the 14th overall pick in 2016, signed a one-year deal with the Browns, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
In 41 career starts, Joseph has 236 total tackles, four interceptions and 15 passes defended. His coverage skills could use work, but Joseph is a solid in the box safety that isn’t scared to make a tackle.
Sendejo spent the majority of his career in Minnesota, where current Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski came up. Sendejo started 40 games for the Vikings from 2014-17. He signed a one-year deal with the Eagles last season, but was let go after nine games. He returned to the Vikings, playing in six games and recording a pair of interceptions.
Browns Have Followed Through on Aggressive Strategy
The new regime for the Cleveland Browns—led by general manager and EVP Andrew Berry—has been clear that they wanted to be aggressive when it came to adding talent.
“If there is anything that I want to be defined by, it is aggression,” Berry told reporters in his introductory press conference. “We want to aggressively acquire talent because that is the name of the game from an NFL front office perspective, and we are going to explore every avenue that enables us to do that.”
Here are the moves other than the ones listed above that the Browns have made so far:
- TE Austin Hooper (4-year)
- OL Jack Conklin (3-year)
- QB Case Keenum (3-year)
- LB BJ Goodson (1-year)
- DL Andrew Billings (1-year)
- WR JoJo Natson (1-year)
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Browns Sign Former Cowboys Cornerback