Browns to add veteran DT

Losing Jordan Elliott to the 49ers this week, the Browns are adding a piece to their defensive line. In addition to bringing back Shelby Harris, Cleveland will add an outside hire to its defensive line equation.

Quinton Jefferson will come over from the Jets on a one-year deal, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot. A veteran who has largely worked as a defensive tackle, Jefferson has enjoyed his two most productive years as a pass-rusher since 2022. The eight-year veteran has combined for 11.5 sacks in that span.

This will be Jefferson’s fifth NFL destination in the 2020s. The former Seahawks draftee has ventured from Buffalo to Las Vegas to Seattle to New York since the decade dawned. 

He will now join Jim Schwartz‘s Cleveland defense, which led the league against the pass in 2023. Jefferson is set to team with the likes of Harris and high-priced DT Dalvin Tomlinson.

The Jets brought in former Robert Saleh 49ers charge Javon Kinlaw early in free agency, and Jefferson — as he is accustomed to doing — will take his routine to another city. 

Vacillating from starter to rotational player during this nomadic period, Jefferson has produced consistently. After notching 16 quarterback hits as a Raider in 2021, the former fifth-round pick totaled 13 in each of the past two seasons. 

Jefferson, 31 this month, also forced a fumble with the Jets last year; the six sacks he notched in New York represent a career high.

Jefferson has extensive experience contributing for playoff-bound defensive lines. While the Jets fell well short of expectations, Jefferson was on a postseason-bound team from 2018-22. 

He sacked Joe Burrow in the Raiders’ narrow wild-card loss to the Bengals in 2021 and totaled two sacks during the 2019 playoffs as a Seahawk.

While Jefferson has traveled the league following the expiration of his rookie contract, he has not signed exclusively one-year deals like Jadeveon Clowney has. 

The Seahawks released Jefferson from a two-year pact last year, leading him to the Jets. His work in Saleh’s defense caught the Browns’ eye, bringing in an interesting piece for Schwartz’s pass-rush.