The Browns' defensive line just took a brutal hit. Alex Wright, Cleveland's starting defensive end, is headed to season-ending injured reserve after rupturing his Achilles in a joint practice with the Bills, according to Adam Schefter. He got carted off during a one-on-one pass rush drill against Buffalo tackle Spencer Brown, and the tests afterward confirmed the worst.
The timing stings extra hard because Wright was just starting to look like a real building block up front. He signed a 3-year, $33 million extension with Cleveland last season after posting a career-high 5.5 sacks, per Schefter, and the Browns were banking on more from him in year one of that new deal. Instead, he's done before the regular season even kicks off.
The Browns signed Alex Wright to a three-year, $33 million extension during last season, he was coming off a career-high 5.5 sacks and more production was expected.
This wasn't exactly an unforeseen problem for Cleveland. Schefter noted the Browns had already been out shopping for pass rush help before Wright went down, taking runs at both Jadeveon Clowney and Za'Darius Smith — only to watch both sign elsewhere. So the front office was already thin at the position, and now their top edge piece is gone for the year.
The answer: Derek Barnett, a name Eagles fans will remember fondly. Philly took him 14th overall in 2017, and he spent 7 seasons there racking up 21.5 sacks and a Super Bowl LII ring, including a fumble recovery off Tom Brady in the fourth quarter of that title game. A torn ACL in 2022 slowed him down, he bounced to the Texans off waivers in late 2023, and he most recently logged 5 sacks with Houston last season. At 30, he's not walking into Cleveland to be a superstar — he's walking in to be a stopgap with real playoff pedigree.
More about the Cleveland Browns placing starting defensive end Alex Wright on season-ending injured reserve with a ruptured Achilles, and signing veteran defensive end Derek Barnett: https://t.co/hbwroE1Oki
Barnett's deal is reportedly a 1-year, up-to-$5.5 million contract, which tracks for a veteran rotational piece plugging a hole rather than a long-term answer. For the Browns, the bigger story is how thin their edge room suddenly looks heading into the season — Wright was supposed to be the guy building on last year's breakout, and now Cleveland's counting on a 30-year-old journeyman to hold the fort while the front office figures out what's next.