The Cleveland Browns are still making a flurry of moves and we see yet another one-year deal in the defensive backfield with the addition of older veteran defensive back, Andrew Sendejo. Unlike most of the signings Cleveland has made, Sendejo is up there in age at 32 years old.
Name: Andrew Sendejo
Height: 6-1
Weight: 210 pounds
Age: 32 years old
Previous Team: Minnesota Vikings
Sendejo is actually one of the more unique stories in all of the NFL, because after he went undrafted out of Rice in 2010, no one brought him into training camp. He was brought into a few tryouts but failed to make anything past that. Sendejo earned another chance in the NFL through an alternative football league in the now-defunct United Football League.
During Sendejo’s time with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL, he absolutely dominated with the second-most tackles in the entire league with 48 through their eight-game season. After his dominating performance in the UFL, the Dallas Cowboys brought Sendejo in and managed to stick around the active roster and practice squad for the 2010 season.
Dallas released Sendejo right before the 2011 season and the New York Jets quickly plucked him up for what was later found out to be due to them wanting the ins and outs of the Cowboy playbook. New York then released Sendejo and he finally found a long-lasting home in Minnesota for the rest of the 2011 season all the way up through 2018.
Sendejo got his first taste as a substantial starter in 2013, but this was due to injury to the starter and although he was not disappointing, he failed to hold onto the starting gig the following season. 2014, saw Sendejo relegated back to a reserve role and again played at a satisfactory level. Sendejo was finally named the full-time starter before the 2015 season and he didn’t look back as he was the starter for 2016, 2017 and was even named the starter in 2018 before an injury stole his season.
The 2018 season was disappointing as Sendejo started the first five games and then suffered a groin injury that forced him on the IR for the remainder of the year. After the season, the Vikings made no effort to bring Sendejo back and he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles to a reserve role. Philadelphia cut Sendejo midway through the season and Minnesota plucked him back up and again used him as a key reserve.
It should be noted that Sendejo’s release was not 100% due to his performance as Philadelphia had to release him to retrieve their fourth-round compensatory selection. They likely would not have released him considering he played 261 snaps before his departure. Despite being in his thirties and recently released, Sendejo is a very solid contributor and an ideal third safety or sub-package player.
At his age Sendejo should not be looked at as a long term answer and even though he projects more appropriately as a third safety option, there is a solid chance he gets the starting nod come opening week. Sendejo is a very solid player that makes up for his lack of athleticism with great knowledge.