The Cleveland Browns, evidently, are still looking for a little bit of help along their defensive line. And they are looking in the direction of one of their former players. Obviously, that’s not Larry Ogunjobi, as he’s now on the Pittsburgh Steelers, taking over for Stephon Tuitt after retiring.
But they are reportedly interested in a reunion with Sheldon Richardson, the former 2013 first-round draft pick who played for the Browns in 2019-2020. They originally signed him to a three-year, $36 million contract, but he was released in April 2021 prior to the final year. He played for the Minnesota Vikings this past season.
Or rather, one reporter is speculating that they might be interested in Richardson. That would be Mary Kay Cabot, who disputed a report that the team was instead interested in Ndamukong Suh, which she claims they never have been.
“The Browns have been linked to Suh, 35, at various points this offseason, but there doesn’t seem to be much interest”, she wrote for Cleveland.com. “If they decide to add a veteran defensive tackle, they might consider a familiar face in Sheldon Richardson, 31, who played for them in 2019-20 but returned to the Vikings last season rather than take a huge paycut from the Browns”.
She adds that Cleveland at this moment wants to see what is already on the roster along the defensive front with the likes of Perrion Winfrey and Jordan Elliott, as well as Taven Bryan, but they have the resources, if necessary, to add somebody.
Richardson, who will be 32 at the end of November, played in all 17 games for the Vikings last season, making seven starts and playing 690 snaps, but at a career-low percentage of just 57. He finished with 39 tackles, including six for loss, with two and a half sacks, a forced fumble, and four batted passes.
During his two seasons in Cleveland, he registered 126 tackles in 32 games, including nine for loss, with 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and seven passes defensed.
As for Suh, now 35 years old, he has spent the past three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but remained unsigned. He has never missed a game during his entire career due to injury, so durability is not a question, and he has still produced six sacks in each of the past two years with 16 combined tackles for loss.
