Getty Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Myles Jack looks on during an NFL game.
Injury decimated the Cleveland Browns linebacking corps in 2022, which makes a quality addition to increase depth at the position perhaps the most important move left for the franchise to make.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus on June 28 authored an argument for the Browns using some of their remaining $16.9 million in salary cap space to add free agent linebacker Myles Jack, most recently of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
“One more piece in the front seven, namely depth at off-ball linebacker with Anthony Walker Jr. coming off a tough injury, would help continue to shore up the interior of this Browns defense at all three levels,” Spielberger wrote. “Jack will still be just 28 years old for the duration of the 2023 season and has posted a missed tackle rate below 10% in three straight seasons. His 76 defensive stops against the run over that span rank 12th among off-ball linebackers.”
Myles Jack’s Production Has Already Earned Him Two Big NFL Contracts
GettyLinebacker Myles Jack, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, tackles running back Kareem Hunt, formerly of the Cleveland Browns, during an NFL game in September 2022.
Locking Jack into a team-friendly contract feels more reasonable as the offseason presses into mid-summer and he remains unsigned. The former second-round pick has already inked two sizable contracts during his seven-year NFL career, signing a four-year, $57 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019 and a two-year, $16 million agreement with the Steelers in 2022.
Both franchises cut Jack the offseason ahead of his final contract year in the interest of salary cap savings. Jacksonville saved $8.35 million in March 2022, while Pittsburgh saved $8 million on its balance sheet in March of this year. Those decisions, however, shouldn’t serve as detractors for other teams in the market for playmaking linebackers, among which the Browns number prominently.
Jack played in 15 of 17 regular season games for the Steelers last season, earning 13 starts. He tallied 104 tackles and registered three pass breakups. For his career, the linebacker has recorded 617 tackles, including 22 tackles for loss, 18 pass breakups, 18 quarterback hits, 6.5 sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles and one defensive touchdown, per Pro Football Reference.
Browns Starting Linebackers Ravaged by Injury Last Season
GettyLinebacker Anthony Walker Jr. of the Cleveland Browns pursues quarterback Mitch Trubisky of the Pittsburgh Steelers during an NFL game in September 2022.
All three of Cleveland’s starting linebackers missed significant time with injuries last season, which makes an addition like Jack all the more pressing for a franchise with legitimate, even if tenuous, aspirations to contend in 2023.
Walker tore his quad in Week 3 against the Steelers and never played again. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah lost the last four games of the year due to a sprained foot and played in just 11 of 17 regular season contests in 2022. Sione Takitaki played the first 12 games of the year before tearing his ACL, an injury that cost him the final five outings. Injuries plagued backup linebackers as well, including Jacob Phillips who tore his pectoral muscle in October and was lost for the remainder of the campaign.
Jack has been durable since joining the NFL in 2016, sitting out more than two regular season games only once, when he missed five contests back in 2019. A sure tackler on whom the Browns can count to be available most Sundays is exactly the type of player Cleveland needs to shore up the second level of what should be a formidable defense this season.