The Browns plan to sign former Houston Texans defensive lineman Ogbonia Okoronkoe when the free-agency period opens on Wednesday, a league source confirmed to the Beacon Journal.
Okoronko’s deal is a three-year, $19 million deal. Of that, $12.5 million is guaranteed, with a cap of $22 million.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com was the first to report.
The Browns clearly have Myles Garrett on one end to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks. However, they were in dire need of another proven edge rusher to line up on the other side with the expected departure of Jadevon Clooney in free agency.
The only other ends on the roster were 2022 draft picks Alex Wright and Isaiah Thomas. That pair connected for a sack by Thomas.
That’s where Okoronkoe, the former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year at the University of Oklahoma, comes into the picture. An outside linebacker when he was a 2018 fifth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams, he moved to defensive end when he signed with the Texans before last season.
The result was easily Okoronkwo’s best season ever. He played in every regular-season game for the first time in his career, taking a career-high 517 defensive snaps.
Okoronkoe recorded 44 combined tackles, 29 more than any other season in his career. He also set career highs with five sacks, nine tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits and two passes defended.
Okoronkoe has played in 50 career regular-season and six playoff games, including Super Bowl LVI with the Rams in February 2022. He did not play in the full year he was drafted in 2018, but played at least 10 games in each of his final three seasons with the Rams.
For his career, Okoronkoe had 78 combined tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and 24 quarterback hits. He has three forced fumbles and three passes defensed.
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This article was originally published on the Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns to sign ex-Texas defensive end Ogbonia Okoronkoe