Over the course of the summer, after he was traded to the Cleveland Browns by the Rams back in June, one of the topics that frequently came up for star edge rusher Jared Verse–a Pro Bowl edge in his first two NFL seasons–was his propensity to get pressures in Los Angeles but not finish them off with sacks. Teams like getting pressure from their edges, of course, but it is the players who deliver sacks who get paid the big bucks.
In all, Verse has 12.0 sacks in two seasons in the NFL, a modest total. But his pressures have been plentiful–143 in 2024 and 2025 combined, per Next Gen Stats, the fifth-most in the league in that time. He was clear this summer, especially after attending the famed “Sack Summit” in Las Vegas, that he intended to get his sack numbers up.
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But if there was a problem with generating pressures without getting sacks, Verse has found a discouraging way to fix that now that he is with the Browns–not only is he not getting sacks, but he is not getting pressures, either. That’s right, Verse has zero pressures through to games.
At ESPN on Wednesday morning, Browns beat writer Daniel Oyefusi was asked whether Verse’ failure was a a real concern or a two-week mirage.
He wrote: “Mirage. It’s not the start Verse had hoped for with his new team, but opportunities have been lacking for the two-time Pro Bowler. Verse’s snaps have been limited through two games; he has had only 43 pass rush snaps. Much of his team debut in Week 1 was spent facing a large deficit, but his average get-off time through two games — 0.77 seconds, according to NFL Next Gen Stats — would be a career-best mark. If Cleveland can play more close games, such as its Week 2 upset over the Buccaneers, Verse should get more chances, and those pass rush numbers should rise. “
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That’s getting back to basics for Verse and the Browns. But his goal of not just pressuring, but sacking, quarterbacks remains.
As he said in August: “I mean, it’s just finishing. I mean, when you look at the numbers and everything like that, I’m never a big stat guy, big number guy, but to be translucent with it and to talk about the statistics over there, I’m one of the highest pressure rates.
“But pressures don’t mean anything if you can’t finish. Getting to the quarterback means nothing if you can’t finish. Yeah, it throws him off a little bit and messes with his head, but sacks is what puts them back a little bit. Finishing is just my biggest part.”
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