Browns Locked In the Secondary. The Defensive Line Is a Different Story.

Back-to-back extensions in four days — Denzel Ward at two years and $62.2 million, Grant Delpit at three years and $48 million — gave the Browns something they haven't had much of lately: a settled secondary heading into training camp. Both players are active and healthy. That part of the roster is, for the moment, sorted.

The defensive line is not. Maliek Collins remains out with the knee injury that carried over from 2025, and there is no credible depth behind him — no second defensive tackle who logged meaningful snaps last season. If Collins misses significant time in camp, the Browns are essentially running one man at the position. That's not a depth concern; that's a structural gap.

Andrew Berry said last week he's hopeful on Jadeveon Clowney, but as I noted Thursday, there's competition for the veteran's services and nothing is done. Clowney is a pass rusher, not an interior tackle, so even a signed deal there wouldn't solve the Collins problem directly — it would just add some pressure from the edge while the middle stays thin.

The secondary money was the right call. But the front office spent its last four days plugging the back end of the defense while the front end remains the most urgent question on the roster. Collins's timeline is the thing to watch as camp opens.