- LINEBACKER

Cleveland's 2022 LB unit had more replacement parts than a Cuban-rebuilt Oldsmobile during the Castro regime. Sometimes you get bitten by the injury bug; last year that group experienced the seven plagues of Revelation. Much of the room is returning for this season, and we can hopefully expect better luck in the health department.

After feeling out his open-market value on a visit to Washington (which was evidently as robust as a toddling baby flamingo with polio), Anthony Walker Jr. is back, and will likely be the green-dot signal caller again for the defense. He was inked to a VSB with a cap hit of just under $1.1M with $652,500 guaranteed: a tremendously good value if he's healthy, as what he's done — when on the field and through his leadership both — over the course of his last two one-year deals in Cleveland has been worth far more than the vet min, though that's a bit of an extrapolation given that he didn't make it out of September in 2022 before tearing a quad tendon, an injury though which has a typical recovery time that should have him capable of participating in camp and being ready for the start of the season. Especially when put in context against someone like Trysten Hill, whose total contract value is the same as A.Walk's (though not the guaranteed portion), who is likely to not even make it through final cuts — whereas Walker is the starting Mike — Andrew Berry did great to re-sign the former Colt at a savings.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (2021 2.52) is someone with a tantalizing skillset who wasn't able to reach his perceived potential during Joe Woods' tenure as DC. Now we'll start to get a better idea of who is truly to blame for the fact that Nick Bolton, a linebacker drafted six picks after JOK, has lapped him in development. Bolton ran point for Kansas City's Super Bowl-winning defense in just his second year, and played more than 1100 snaps in his sophomore campaign. We'll hope JOK can stay available and on the field this season.

It would've been wise to hold Sione Takitaki (who's recovering from a torn ACL) out of on-field drills during camp so he could've qualified to begin the season on the PUP list — which counts toward the 90-man offseason roster but not the 53. That would essentially create an extra roster spot (as it would've with Jakeem Grant Sr.) so that he's eligible to return after week four, by which time there's likely to be an injury to someone else who'd go on short-term IR, vacating a spot for a PUP-list player to rejoin the team. Cleveland's brass apparently disagrees with this philosophy, as he's been a participant and is no longer eligible for that designation. Maybe he's Adrian Peterson and he can also rush for 2100 yards beginning just eight months out from an ACL.

Jacob Phillips is probably a safe bet, though at best, he should be on the bubble. The way this front office likes to double down on their draft failures, he's probably about to get an extension and a bunk someone else should be sleeping in, because that'd be about the only way to make the circumstance worse than if he were to spend another year on IR, eating cap space that should be on someone else's plate. He hasn't been able to keep healthy in any of his three seasons so far and he's a UFA after 2023, but he's an AB draft pick (2020 3.97) so Berry's probably keeping a cozy spot neat and warm to tuck him into come the end of August.

Somewhat oddly, the Browns listed Phillips as a co-starter (with Walker) at middle linebacker when the first depth chart came out in 2022; that nomination doesn't seem the slightest bit earned given his forgettable on-field performance when he's been able to be out there, which has been rare. Handing the reins over to him full-time sounds about as appealing as trying to drink a bottle of tire smoke.

Update: Phillips, who missed most of 2022 with a torn left pectoral, has torn his right pectoral; he should've been canned prior to camp to prevent him from injuring himself again and suckling money all season from the Wounded Warrior Foundation that is the Cleveland Browns. This team is as brittle as a frozen Kleenex. Only one other organization (at time of writing) has as many total players on IR, NFI, and PUP as the Browns' seven — a number which doesn't even account for Alex Wright and Isaiah Thomas, who aren't on IR yet but will be out several weeks into the regular season. Two clubs have six. Twenty teams have three or fewer, including three (LAR, TB, DAL) who have zero. Maybe it'd be politic to scout those teams' camp practices and find out why their dudes aren't crumbling like a sugar wafer under a piston rod in a pneumatic cylinder.

Another pick of Berry's, Tony Fields II (2021 5.153), seems like a lock as second string on the weakside. He showed some promise in coverage during training camp last year, but that didn't carry over into the regular season. He did improve, however, as a tackler.

Jordan Kunaszyk was signed last August and found his way to the active roster. A special teams fave and a capable fill-in when somebody calls in sick, he also has $500K in guaranteed money in his pact. So he's pretty likely to make the team, as it begins to approach the realm of "bad business practice" to set fire to half a million dollars for someone who isn't going to play. Interestingly though, and although this specific detail doesn't appear to be publicly available, it's extremely likely his contract contains an "offset" clause, meaning the team would be reimbursed if he were to find himself under contract — which he almost certainly would be — after having been initially cut (i.e. the first $500K he'd earn in a subsequent 2023 contract would offset the $500K in dead money the team would suffer if he were to not be on a roster this season).

Update: Kunaszyk has a torn MCL; the injury shouldn't cost him all of 2023, but he's now a candidate for short-term IR to start the season.

Matthew Adams' dead cap would be $300K if he doesn't make the initial 53 (though if healthy he'd wind up somewhere drawing a check long enough for that figure to be reimbursed to Cleveland via offsets too); he's also due a max VSB bonus of $152,500 if he's on the roster week one. He was signed as a favorite of new STC Bubba Ventrone, as they worked together in Indianapolis for Adams' first four years in the league (2018-21). He aggravated a calf in camp and will reportedly miss "weeks"; that could be the wax stamp that seals his fate to get passed over.

Mohamoud Diabate and Charlie Thomas III are 2023 UDFAs who'll need to scratch out a spot by being exceptional on special teams and outperforming Adams (and probably others) in that capacity. I had sixth-round grades on both of them pre-draft. So far in camp, Diabate has shined like a tanning bed with a disco ball in it. Cam Bright is a late addition to the deep end of the roster churn; he's a 2023 UDFA out of UW, signed by the Seahawks in May and waived in July.

A couple guys who might make some sense here if they'd play on VSBs (which neither has to this point), Myles Jack and Rashaan Evans, are linebacker names that have been floated to Cleveland as frequently as container ships out of Detroit. Speaking of Detroit, the Browns should've poached LB Jarrad Davis from the Lions' PS in October of last year rather than downgrading a pick (sixth back to seventh) trading for Atlanta's Deion Jones.

Update: Jack signed with Philly August 6 for a minimum base with per game roster bonuses which disqualify it for the VSB cap reduction; just $25K is guaranteed.

Further update: Jack has filed retirement paperwork with the league office.

Seemingly the most obvious addition that could be currently made here is a reunion with Reggie Ragland; he played well for the Dawgs in minimal snaps last year as a band-aid on the incurable weeping lesion that was the 2022 linebacker unit. He did sustain a shoulder injury in the season finale, about which there doesn't appear to be any further information. And in order to avoid the Termination Pay guarantee, waiting to sign him until after week one (if it were prudent then and he's still on the market) is probably the way to go. With that being the case, getting 'Taki reacclimated by having him taking part in camp practices isn't a terrible idea if he'll be full go by September 10; we'll install him here and assume the organization knows his medical better from within. We will not, however, give them that benefit with regard to Jakeem Grant Sr., a return artist just 12 months clear of a complete Achilles tear who's on the high side of 30: an age threshold beyond which perfectly healthy return specialists begin to degrade like a paper umbrella in the Amazon.

While the Browns took six linebackers into September last season, there were seven clubs that kept only five through final cuts. Two more teams, Washington and Kansas City, had just four. If Walker and 'Taki are truly 100% by the end of camp, they could trim LBs () here to make more space elsewhere; given Jim Schwartz's requirement of a deep rotation on the D-line, this would be a good place to get skinny. Diabate though is making a push like getting a shopping cart through a mangrove swamp; leaving him out to keep just five here could prove to be a mistake.

- What it should look like:

WLB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah6

- Tony Fields II42

MLB Anthony Walker Jr5

- Matthew Adams40

- Jordan Kunaszyk51 (IR 8/30)

SLB Sione Takitaki44

- Mohamoud Diabate43

- What it's more likely to look like:

WLB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah6

- Tony Fields II42

MLB Anthony Walker Jr5

- (Matthew Adams40: cut 8/29, re-sign 8/30)

- Jordan Kunaszyk51 (IR 8/30)

SLB Sione Takitaki44

- Mohamoud Diabate43

Position groups will be posted throughout August.