Ford heads to the NFC South
The Cleveland Browns continue to not make much noise in free agency, losing out on now maintaining their depth at cornerback. Mike Ford has signed with the Atlanta Falcons on a two-year, $4 million deal per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Ford was likely far from one of Cleveland's priority signings, especially on defense. You can probably argue that player was Devin Bush, who was re-signed by the team to a one year, team friendly deal. While Ford provided much needed depth to the Browns' defense and secondary, retaining him wasn't going to make or break their impact on that side of the ball.
Ford is only 30 years old, and likely has some juice still left in the tank on defense.
Mike Ford signs with Falcons on two-year deal
Now, Cleveland's depth at cornerback features an All Pro in Denzel Ward in addition to Tony Brown, MJ Emerson, Cameron Mitchell, and other pickups the Browns made at the end of the year that basically never saw action.
Ward needs help, and that was evidenced by his lack of play due to concussions throughout the season as well as the limited impact of Emerson, Ford, and Mitchell. The draft offers some youthful alternatives to those secondary members, and there's also hope that Emerson's down year was a fluke.
Browns seem ready to fill holes through the draft
By not signing a starting QB as well as a starting RB this offseason, it feels likely the team is prepared to fill those holes through the draft. Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are their best bets at No. 2 overall, with Ward having an edge there. At running back, the team has a deep pool to choose from, ranging from Omarion Hampton to TreVeyon Henderson, to even Kaleb Johnson.
With a plethora of picks, including two extra compensatory picks set to come to the Browns in the 6th and 7th rounds of this draft, the team can really, and cheaply, fill in some holes on their roster. It wouldn't hurt, outside of RB and QB, for the team to add to their WR room.
That's another position that the draft offers a ton of intriguing options at, especially if the team wants to surround a rookie signal caller with more talent.
Is this a good strategy? No. The team seems to both believe their roster is good enough to compete and that they just need a starting quarterback, while clearly feeling cap strapped and unable to fill big holes with veterans. They are attempting to have the best of both worlds, and if Hannah Montana taught us anything, it's that this illusion cannot last forever.
The team has to figure out their plan at quarterback quickly, beyond just taking a rookie and hoping they immediately thrive. If they don't do that in free agency or this offseason, they're going to quickly go from potential Wild Card team to another easily clown-able team in 2025.
