Coming into the 2023 offseason, the Cleveland Browns had a few clear needs. Arguably their biggest was upgrading the interior of their defensive line. The Browns had a strong duo on the edge with Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, but between them, there wasn’t much production.
In 2022, three out of the four defensive tackles that played at least 200 snaps for Cleveland earned an overall grade of 41.6 or worse according to PFF. Taven Bryan had 23 pressures on 359 pass-rushing attempts and that led the interior linemen group.
That just isn’t going to cut it and something needed to change this offseason. Seeking an upgrade, the Browns wasted little time in finding one. They agreed to a four-year, $57 million contract with defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson early on in the legal tampering period of free agency.
Tomlinson is a huge addition to Cleveland after spending the last two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He was originally a second-round pick of the New York Giants in the 2017 NFL Draft and has been a steady, productive player.
The Alabama product was used mostly as a run-stuffing, space eater early in his career as a nose tackle and that remains his best asset. He has 26 tackles for loss in his career with an 83.0 run defense grade in his career, which is top-16 at the position in that span of time. He has 55 total tackles for loss or no gain since 2017, which is the third most among interior players.
In 2022, Tomlinson had the best pass-rushing season of his career. He posted a career-best 79.1 pass-rushing grade, registering a career-high tying 10 quarterback hits and 2.5 sacks. There is some pass-rushing upside there, making Tomlinson a nice addition to the Browns as a complement to Garrett on the interior.
The best skill that Tomlinson brings to the table is availability. He missed three games during the 2022 season due to injury, which was the first time in his career that he missed multiple games in a season. Overall, he has missed only four games in six seasons, so you can count on him being on the field week in and week out.
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