With Rob Ryan becoming the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, one of the things that Cowboys fans have been doing over at Blogging the Boys is taking a look at what free agent defensive players from Cleveland's 2010 roster they might be interested in. I'm not sure how feasible that is since none of Ryan's players from Oakland came over to Cleveland when he was our defensive coordinator, although Eric Mangini and Tom Heckert each found ways to acquire their former players.
One of the main players Dallas fans are interested in is safety Abram Elam, who started his career with the Cowboys in 2006 under Bill Parcells as a special teamer.
Even if they don't plan to start him, I'm sure Rob Ryan would love to have a guy at training camp and at practices who can help implement his system. A lot of the quotes from the Cowboys defenders about Ryan's defense have contained verbiage about its complexity, it's multiple looks, and they talk about 'once we master it'.
Elam definitely had a stretch this season where he started making a few game-changing plays. I still would not call him an above average safety or anything, but with Cleveland's needs on the defensive line, I wouldn't mind it if the Browns tried to bring Elam back to keep stability in the secondary.
Blogging the Boys also took a look at all three of Cleveland's free agent linebackers, D'Qwell Jackson, Matt Roth, and Chris Gocong. I think Gocong has a good chance to stick due to his relationship with Heckert and his experience in both a 4-3 and a 3-4. Roth's role would have to be re-defined though and Jackson's health is definitely a concern if he is still interested in getting a long-term deal somewhere.