© Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
Denzel Ward Sees Value In Browns Secondary Staying Intact
Fellow cornerback Greg Newsome II has been mentioned in Browns trade rumors throughout the offseason
Each NFL offseason comes with a multitude of trade rumors. For the Browns, one of the biggest in recent months has centered around potentially moving nickle cornerback Greg Newsome II.
Not every rumor comes to fruition though, and as the Browns opened up their offseason program this week Newsome II is in attendance and beginning preparations for the 2024 season.
Jan 13, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II (0) and teammates run out of the tunnel
Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Denzel Ward is grateful his secondary mate is back in the fold. For him, keeping the cornerback room that patrolled the back end of last year's top ranked defense together was invaluable.
"Yeah, it’s very important," Ward said in his first public comments of the spring. "I mean, that was one of the things I kind of been openly sharing. Like, I want to keep us together. I feel like even [Andrew Berry) says all the time, you can never have enough great corners and enough corners on a team. Guys go down and just having the ability to match up with any teams across the board, whether that’s inside in the slot with Greg or outside with me and Martin [Emerson Jr.] and being able to rotate and do different things and having multiple number one corners on the team."
There is something to be said about continuity and depth, particularly for a group of corners as talented as the Browns group. Part of the reason for Newsome's name even popping up in rumors is because there's a general belief that he can be a top outside cornerback on another team.
The Northwestern product told reporters on Tuesday that he's comfortable in Cleveland and that he blocked out most of the chatter about his future. Not so long ago though, even Newsome himself publicly voiced his preference to not become boxed in to a nickle corner role on social media.
With the Browns that role isn't meant to be a slight on Newsome. It's more about Cleveland having an embarrassment of riches at the position. As Ward emphasized, that's a good problem to have.
“I mean, I feel we’re the best corner group in the NFL," said Ward. "I feel that we went out there and showed that, but this is a new year and we got to go out there and show that again. So that’s what we’re doing now, putting that work in to go out and show why we’re the best group. And so that’s all it is. It’s just getting to the work and going out there and showing that. But I definitely feel we’re the best, though.”
The first steps towards proving that are underway in Berea as the offseason program commences. And the countdown to a 2024 season with lofty expectations for not the Browns defense but the entire franchise, is on.
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