The Cleveland Browns knew they had to get better and they definitely made some moves to do that as soon as free agency began. Cleveland reached agreements with linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Donte Whitner according to reports. The defense wasn’t a huge problem but these moves do make the team stronger. Dansby gets a four-year, $24 million deal with Whitner gets a four-year, $28 million contract. There are many positives with these signings.
Dansby will be 33 years old this season and had 113 tackles for the Arizona Cardinals last season along with four interceptions. Whitner is 28 and played on a very solid San Francisco 49ers team last season. He is considered one of the best safeties in the whole NFL while having two interceptions and being in on 73 tackles this past year. The additions of Dansby and Whitner to go with last season’s signing of Paul Kruger gives the Browns some hope going into next season.
The Browns were just 4-12 in 2013 and had a good defense that was in the top ten against the pass and the middle of the pack against the run. These moves can only improve those stats and in an AFC North that includes solid running games in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati along with three quarterbacks who can sling the ball around, Cleveland needed to do something to avoid the cellar again. There are more moves that need to be made however. The team still needs to find a new starting quarterback and running back after trading Trent Richardson last season and moving on from Brandon Weeden in all likelihood.
There is the No. 4 pick in the NFL Draft coming up and there have been other rumors that the team may try to pursue Darrelle Revis as well to go on the other side of Joe Haden. The moves that the Browns are making could finally bring a winning team back to the shores of Lake Erie for the first time in 2007. It has been a long time coming for fans that saw winning football a lot 25 years old. Dansby and Whitner should help bring more wins to Cleveland during the 2014 season.
