While NFL teams have not shelled out quite as much money in the opening days of the 2021 free agency period as they did in 2020, that hasn’t stopped the transaction carousel from continuing apace. As usual, a whole lot of interesting signings took place. Today, we’re breaking down some of our most interesting fits on each side of the ball. We’ll start in the space below with our favorite fits on defense. (Click here for offense.)
Note: Because we used the Jets and Patriots in the post about offensive additions, we tried to go for some different teams here, even though New York and New England’s respective defensive additions were also quite interesting.
Cleveland’s biggest defensive issue last season was covering the deep middle of the field. The Browns ranked 28th in Football Outsiders’ DVOA against deep passes, an issue that undermined the rest of their unit. Enter Johnson III, one of the best and most underrated center-field type safeties in the league. As we saw last season, though, he has the versatility to rotate down into a two-high look and play the run just as well as he covers in space. He’s just a really good player, and a perfect fit for what this team needed. The Browns also brought his former teammate, Hill, along with him, to replace departed corner Terrance Mitchell.
Tennessee’s pass defense was an obvious weak point last season. They have already cut ties with all three of their top corners, releasing both Malcolm Butler and Adoree’ Jackson, and letting midseason trade acquisition Desmond King walk as well. It appears their priority is to build the defense from front to back as opposed to back to front now, pairing Dupree with Harold Landry and Jeffery Simmons in an effort to hopefully get some more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. They still need to find some help in the secondary (and replace Corey Davis and Jonnu Smith), but they seem to have a pretty clear idea of what they want to do here.
In our free-agency preview, I advocated for the Robertson-Harris signing:
With Abry Jones and Adam Gotsis hitting free agency and Taven Bryan not yet leaving up to his lofty draft status, the Jags could also use some help up the middle on defense… They probably won’t be shopping at the top of the market, but a guy like Roy Robertson-Harris would be a good fit up front.
Alualu is coming off a career year in Pittsburgh, and returning to the team that drafted him to team with Robertson-Harris up the middle. Those two, plus Josh Allen and K’Lavon Chaisson should form a nice unit up front. Adding Griffin and Jenkins to the secondary, meanwhile, should help a secondary that badly needed an infusion of talent alongside 2020 first-rounder C.J. Henderson.
The Bengals being spenders in free agency is still going to take some getting used to. Did they let William Jackson III and Carl Lawson walk for slightly larger guarantees than they were willing to hand out? Sure. But splurging to sign guys from outside the organization is still new.
Hilton and Awuzie complete the organization’s overhaul of its cornerback group, which began last offseason when they signed Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander. Alexander is moving on after completing his one-year deal, while should be healthy now after missing all of last season due to injury. With Waynes and Awuzie on the outside and Hilton in the slot, the Bengals have size and physicality across the perimeter. Hendrickson finally broke out in Year 4, and it remains to be seen whether he can replicate the success he had in New Orleans last year. But they needed somebody to replace Lawson, and he was the best available edge on the market.
It turns out Matt Rhule did not have much patience for how his defense looked in Year 1. The Panthers used every one of their draft picks last season on defensive players, but while some of them turned out quite well, the team still finished 24th in defensive efficiency, per Football Outsiders’ DVOA, with the 20th-ranked unit against the run and the 23rd-ranked outfit against the pass.
So the Panthers added a pass rusher in Reddick (coming off a career-best 12.5 sacks in his first season as a pure edge guy) on a value deal; a run-thumping linebacker in Perryman (who has been damn good when he’s on the field but struggles to stay healthy); and a versatile interior defender in Fox who can play next to Derrick Brown on both run and pass downs. The Panthers still have plenty of work to do, particularly in the secondary, but the defensive makeover is continuing apace.
Mike Zimmer’s veteran cornerback rehabilitation center has found a new member. He has previously revived the careers of guys like Terence Newman (twice) and Xavier Rhodes, and will now try his hand with Patrick Peterson. I expect it to work. Tomlinson is an odd pairing with Michael Pierce, who opted out of last season, because they are both primarily run defenders. The Vikes might not have much to work with in the pass rush department if they acquiesce to Danielle Hunter’s reported trade demands, so it’ll be interesting to see how they build out the rest of the defensive line.