news-engine

Twice this month the Cleveland Browns have brought a veteran pass rusher into the building, worked him out, and watched him sign somewhere else. Jadeveon Clowney visited Berea in late July, and Andrew Berry told reporters afterward that the visit went well and that he was hopeful something could be worked out. On Aug. 2, Clowney agreed to terms with the Houston Texans instead. Za’Darius Smith also followed the same path, cutting the story short. He worked out for Cleveland, passed his physical, and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported on Sunday that a one-year deal was expected. He then took a Monday visit to Atlanta and signed there on Tuesday morning. Edge rusher Za’Darius Smith tried out for the #Falcons today, per the #NFL wire. #Browns hope to sign him. He played for Kevin Stefanski here in 2023 and 2024. — Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 17, 2026 The reason the pattern stings is the hole they were being asked to help fill. Cleveland traded Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, one season after Garrett set the NFL single-season record with 23 sacks. The return was Jared Verse, a two-time Pro Bowler and a legitimate starting edge rusher at 25. Behind him the depth chart runs to Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire, with the fourth spot open after Cameron Thomas left in free agency and was not replaced. Why Cleveland keeps finishing second on these deals The offers are not equivalent, and that is most of the story. Clowney would have slotted in as Cleveland’s second or third rusher; in Houston he joins a front that already has Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr., which is a smaller role on a better defense, in the city where he was drafted first overall in 2014 and where he grew up. Smith would have been depth in Berea. In Atlanta he walks into two vacancies at once, with Jalon Walker out for the season after tearing an ACL on Aug. 4 and James Pearce Jr. suspended for the first eight games. DeAngelo Malone is on the reserve/PUP list as well. Smith’s decision had a second layer. Kevin Stefanski coached him in Cleveland in 2023 and 2024 and now runs the Falcons. Jordan Schultz reported the Atlanta deal at a $6 million base with $8 million available through incentives, which is not the kind of number a player takes for sentiment alone, but the familiarity plainly did not hurt. The #Falcons are giving Za’Darius Smith a 1-year, $6M deal with incentives upside to $8M, per sources. Atlanta went on an all-out blitz to get Smith, and after a successful workout on Monday, they made sure the contract was strong enough to get him to sign and join Jeff… https://t.co/CYFLmW0GUh — Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 18, 2026 Cleveland’s pitch, meanwhile, is harder to make in August than it was in March. The Browns finished 5-12 last season, ranked 31st in points per game, are still running an unsettled quarterback competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, and have leaned into youth across two draft classes. A 33-year-old edge rusher deciding where to spend one more year has a reasonable amount of information to work with. I don’t see any of that making the misses a crisis. Verse drew a genuine recruiting pitch of his own from inside the building, telling reporters that having Clowney in the room would have been monumental, and the defense still has Denzel Ward, Grant Delpit, Mason Graham and Carson Schwesinger under contract. Cleveland was never going to buy its way back to where it was. Garrett produced 23 sacks by himself last season. Verse has 12 in two years, 4.5 as a rookie and 7.5 in 2025, which is a good young player rather than a replacement. The plan was always going to be a committee, and Cleveland has now spent three weeks trying to find the fourth man for it and coming up empty twice. Related Readings: Ryan Clark makes strong case for Jayden Daniels that LSU fans should hear Ryan Day makes an unusual scheduling decision with the Michigan game in mind Packers CB Keisean Nixon says he feels ‘punished’ amid unexpected starting competition