Baltimore Ravens: Jadeveon Clowney, OLB (Seattle Seahawks)
The Baltimore Ravens enter the 2020 NFL off-season without a ton on needs. They could perhaps add to the wide receiver room, but they should have a number of potential options available to them via the draft. They could look to add depth on the interior of the offensive line, in the wake of Marshall Yanda’s retirement, making Joe Thuney and Brandon Schreff enticing options as well. But there is an area where they could look to improve: Generating pass rush without relying on the blitz.
According to charting from PFF, the Ravens blitzed on 55% of their defensive snaps, the most in the history of PFF charting. They were extremely effective when they blitzed, allowing just 4.6 yards per play when they brought pressure, but having a pass rusher who can create pressure on his own would given the defense more flexibility from a schematic standpoint.
Clowney can do that, and is probably one of the premier pass rushing talents available in free agency. Last season ESPN rolled out their new metric “Pass Rush Win Rate,” and Clowney was one of the best at winning his pass rush battles among all EDGE defenders, winning on 24% of his opportunities, seventh-best in the league. The Ravens do have Matt Judon as one top-flight pass rusher, but he is currently a free agent. Baltimore is expected to either work out a long-term deal or even use the franchise tag on him, but pairing Judon with Clowney would give the Ravens two tremendous pass rushers off the edge. On a team with not many holes and Super Bowl aspirations, a move like this makes sense.
Especially with Lamar Jackson on his rookie contract.
Cincinnati Bengals: Chris Jones, DL (Kansas City Chiefs)
The Cincinnati Bengals are also a team with a number of needs. First among them is the quarterback position, but the organization is expected to address that with the first overall selection in the draft.
Cincinnati also needs to work out a deal with A.J. Green to keep their wide receiver room intact, and to add some help up front to protect their rookie quarterback. On the defensive side of the ball, they could use a talent boost up front, and that is where Chris Jones could fit in.
The Bengals have two aging stars on the defensive line, with defensive end Carlos Dunlap and defensive tackle Geno Atkins. Adding Jones to this defensive line gives Cincinnati some serious ability to generate pressure up front. Jones played in a number of alignments for the Chiefs last season, aligning both as an interior defensive tackle and also being used as a defensive end. Jones could be used in both roles for the Bengals, giving defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo a ton of flexibility up front. In addition, Jones can line up as a shaded nose tackle at times given his mix of power and explosiveness, and a four-man front with Sam Hubbard and Dunlap on the edges with Atkins and Jones in the interior has some serious potential.
Cleveland Browns: Anthony Harris, S (Minnesota Vikings)
The Cleveland Browns entered 2019 with astronomically high expectations. With Baker Mayfield finding his own down the stretch of his rookie season and the acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr., the Browns were poised to make a huge leap forward.
That leap never materialized, and the team is looking to rebound under new head coach Kevin Stefanski. They have a few needs to address this off-season, specifically at the offensive tackle spot, and expectations are that Cleveland will look to draft one of the “big four” offensive tackles with their pick at ten overall, much like the Jets are, who sit behind them in the 11th spot.
But the Browns could also use help on the defensive side of the football. They would be wise to retain linebacker Joe Schobert, who has emerged as a solid second-level defender, but if he leaves Cleveland a linebacker such as Cory Littleton would make sense as a replacement. The need for Littleton might have increased over the past 24 hours with the decision to release another linebacker, Christian Kirksey, who has struggled with injuries. The Browns also could use an infusion of talent at safety, as one of last year’s starters Damarious Randall might not be returning to the team, and given the cap situation in Minnesota, Anthony Harris would be a very intriguing option.
Harris plays primarily as a single-high free safety, although he was used at times down in the box and even as a blitzer last season for the Vikings. Last year according to PFF Harris played about 40% of his snaps in the box or over the slow, showcasing his flexibility.
Acquiring Harris would enable Woods to keep Morgan Burnett in more of a strong safety role, where he is much more comfortable. Burnett has also been used as a safety/linebacker hybrid, making Harris’ ability to play as more of a deep safety a great pairing between the two players.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Jacob Hollister (Seattle Seahawks)
First things first: The Pittsburgh Steelers are in salary cap hell at the moment. They currently have just $1.6 million in cap space, and if they are going to even be a player in free agency there will need to be some cost controlling moves made prior to exploring the market. In addition, should decide to place the franchise tag on EDGE defender Bud Dupree, as has been reported, they’ll likely be forced to move on from defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. They also have needs at cornerback, but those might need to be addressed in the draft.
That brings us to the tight end position. One of the ways that the Steelers could create cap space would be moving on from tight end Vance McDonald, which would free up nearly $5.7 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com. That’s a good start, but if they are going to tag Dupree and potentially find a way to keep Hargrave, they will not have a ton of money to use to entice a player like Hunter Henry to the AFC North.
Enter (potentially) Jacob Hollister. The Seattle Seahawks signed tight end Greg Olson this offseason, and with Olson and Will Dissly in the fold, Hollister might be looking at more of a depth role.
What makes this a difficult needle to thread is that Hollister is a Restricted Rights Free Agent. and the Seahawks could place a free agent tender on him this off-season. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent, meaning an original-round tender would not require the Steelers to send draft pick compensation to sign him to an offer sheet. However, if Seattle places a first- or a second-round tender, that might leave the Steelers without any options, as they lack a first round selection and might not want to use that second rounder on Hollister given some of their other needs. But if they could find a way, Hollister would be an intriguing option. He caught 41 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns over the final 10 games in 2019, and seems to be growing into the tight end the Patriots thought he could become when he was in New England.