One of the most important additions for the Cleveland Browns this offseason was the addition of a true free safety in Juan Thornhill. The team didn’t have a true deep coverage player on the roster before Thornhill and could still use some depth at the position after him and Grant Delpit. The perfect NFL free agency target just became available after the Seattle Seahawks decided to withdraw their restricted free-agent tender to Ryan Neal.
Andrew Berry loves players that can play all over the field and that’s exactly what Neal did last year when he had over 300 snaps in the box, 102 in the slot, and 227 at free safety. Thornhill will be a great addition but he is the only quality free safety on the roster so adding Neal at depth for three positions would be a classic Berry move.
Neal excels as a coverage player and last year PFF gave Neal an 85.7 coverage grade. He only allowed 7.5 yards per reception and added an interception to go along with one sack as well. High-quality depth with a player that wouldn’t break the bank either.