The Browns made a rather notable trade earlier this month, and it left them without one of their starting safeties. While there is another former safety starter on Cleveland’s roster, Derrick Kindred, John Dorsey appears interested in upgrading the position.
Dorsey has spoken with the agents of Eric Berry and Tre Boston, the second-year GM said Monday (via the Akron Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich, on Twitter).
Both players have long-term connections with key Browns personnel. Berry played for Dorsey in Kansas City for four seasons and negotiated his then-safety-record contract with the then-Chiefs GM in 2017. New Cleveland DC Steve Wilks coached Boston in Arizona last season and for three seasons in Carolina.
Having made the decision to continue his career, despite having missed 29 regular-season games over the past two seasons, Berry visited the Cowboys last week. A few teams reached out to Boston earlier in free agency, but the five-year veteran did not expect to sign soon.
Boston yet again has seen his free agency start slowly. He was a key member of the higher-end safety group that oddly lingered unattached for months before accepting basement-level deals. Boston played for a $1MM base salary last season in Arizona. The Chiefs released the injury-prone Berry, 30, earlier this month. Prior to running into significant injury trouble, Berry landed on three All-Pro first teams. Boston, 26, became a full-time Cardinals starter despite a late-offseason arrival. He has eight interceptions over the past two seasons.
Cleveland has made big moves and figures to enter this season with the most hype a Browns 2.0 team has, given the team’s additions of Odell Beckham Jr., Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson and last season’s seven-win showing. And Dorsey appears interested in exploring another high-profile move.
Peppers started for two seasons, joining Damarious Randall last year. Randall remains under contract. So does Kindred, a 2017 starter. But with some high-profile talent connected to the current staff still available, this figures to be a situation to monitor.
If Patrick Mahomes ever gets into any sort of trouble and is cut by the Chiefs he will become the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback
And every other team, with the exception of maybe 5, would try to sign him as well… if you want to criticize Dorsey/Browns, you should bring up Tyreek Hill. Do better next time.
Dude , im a chiefs fan since 86. I havent missed a game since 97. Im making fun of chiefs 2.0 with Dorsey. I believe Tyreek Hill will be cut and signed by Cleveland also. I hope i did better.
I wish my team would take free bowlers when they are out there. When the Browns are in the playoffs next year you can keep being the moral police. Im sure Cleveland fans will care.
I’d probably rather have Boston than Berry.
A healthy Berry could be a game changer, but unfortunately I just don’t have a ton of faith that he’d be healthy for a prolonged period of time. The fact that Kindred is an adequate player helps, but Boston would be a much safer (and probably cheaper) option.
Agreed… I don’t see how signing Berry helps (making the big assumption that he’s healthy), no need to bench Randall for Berry. Boston can subplant Kindred as a starter though. Having previous experience in this defense is a big help as well.
Does a player ever 100% fully recover from a torn Achilles
Boston strikes me as the same type of guy as Randall, but he can probably be gotten on a bargain.
I honestly don’t understand why Boston keeps bouncing from team to team year after year. He’s a very solid and consistent player.