The Cleveland Browns were able to procure Jared Verse and three draft picks in return for Myles Garrett, but the team is still short at least one difference-maker on the edge of its defensive front.
What Cleveland needs specifically is a player who can consistently lay hands on opposing quarterbacks during obvious passing downs, as that is not Verse’s specialty despite his proven ability to generate pressure.
Reporter and analyst Jon Ledyard, who ranked Verse as the 10th-best edge defender in football heading into the 2026 season, explained Verse’s limitations in this regard during the Thursday, August 20 edition of “The Mina Kimes Podcast featuring Lenny.”
“My biggest thing with him is he is a pocket compressor,” Ledyard said. “So people are gonna see these pressure numbers and a lot of them are proximity pressures. Now those can still be valuable, but he has not cleared the blocker on a lot of his pressures necessarily. He’s compressing, and so he’s therefore close to the quarterback, but there’s a blocker between him and the quarterback.”
“Is that as threatening a type of pressure as pressures that have cleared the blocker and are impending hits on the quarterback? To me probably not,” Ledyard continued. “So some of the pressure numbers for him when you watch the tape you’re like, ‘Hmm, yeah this is valuable.’ The most value that this position can provide is by truly beating fully the guy and hitting the quarterback.”
Given Verse’s weakness in that area, the Browns have shown interest in players like Za’Darius Smith. However, with Smith off the board and now with the Falcons, another name Cleveland might consider is Leonard Floyd.
Leonard Floyd Remains Viable Pass-Rush Specialist in NFL
GettyPass-rusher Leonard Floyd, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons.
A pass-rush specialist and former Super Bowl champion, Floyd tallied 48 sacks across five seasons between 2020-24. He tallied just 3.5 sacks last season on a $10 million deal with the Falcons and will play the upcoming campaign at 34 years old.
That said, Floyd has missed just two regular-season games in the past eight seasons and has a market value of only $9 million for the upcoming campaign. He could be even cheaper given how late it is in the NFL calendar and the dwindling number of teams that need to add an edge-rusher before the regular season begins.
As such, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report on Friday dubbed the Browns a top fit for Floyd.
“The Cleveland Browns should … take a look at Floyd,” Knox wrote. “Browns edge-defender Alex Wright also exited Thursday’s practice on a cart with a reported leg injury.”
Browns Have Even More Urgent Need on Defensive Line Following Injury to Alex Wright
GettyCleveland Browns defensive end Alex Wright.
Wright is the team’s second defensive end and presumptive starter alongside Verse, and the Browns were still looking to add to the position when Wright was healthy.
Cleveland signed DE Jamil Muhammad earlier this week, but he has yet to take a regular season snap in the NFL.
“The Browns signed EDGE Jamil Muhammad, according to his agent,” TheDawgsPodcast Instagram account reported. “Muhammad signed with the [Los Angeles] Rams as a UDFA last season and then spent time on the [Carolina] Panthers‘ practice squad. He played 5 years in college, including the final two at USC where he had 173 tackles, 7.5 sacks and 12 [tackles for loss].”
Browns Named Suitors for $10 Million Pass-Rush Specialist Alongside Jared Verse