Cleveland Browns to sign ex-Texans defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
The Browns plan to sign former Houston Texans defensive lineman Ogbonnia Okoronkwo when the free-agency period opens Wednesday, a league source confirmed to the Beacon Journal.
The deal for Okoronkwo is a three-year, $19 million deal. Of that, $12.5 million is guaranteed, with a maximum value of $22 million.
Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot was the first to report.
The Browns obviously have Myles Garrett at one end to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks. However, they desperately needed another proven edge rusher to line up on the other side with Jadeveon Clowney’s expected departure in free agency.
The only other ends on the roster were 2022 draft picks Alex Wright and Isaiah Thomas. That pair combined for one sack, by Thomas.
That’s where Okoronkwo, a 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 prior to last season.
What resulted was easily Okoronkwo’s best season. He played every regular-season game for the first time in his career, with a career-high 517 defensive snaps.
Okoronkwo recorded 44 combined tackles, which was 29 more than in any other season in his career. He also set career highs with five sacks, nine tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits and two passes defensed.
Okoronkwo 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 at all the year he was drafted in 2018, but played at least 10 games each of his last three seasons with the Rams.
For his career, Okoronkwo has 78 combined tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and 24 quarterback hits. He also has three forced fumbles and three passes defensed.
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