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Cleveland Browns v Oakland Raiders
Nishant Upadhyay
ANALYST
Modified 03 Apr 2021
Last year,
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry made a big splash in free agency
to bolster the team's offensive line. The signings played a big part in the
team's success as they ended their 18-year long playoff drought.
Historically, Cleveland has not been
a landing spot for top free agents. The team's history of dysfunction, coupled
with its lack of success on the field, has always been off-putting for the
NFL's best players.
While the team hasn't had much luck with the free agents that
they have managed to sign, few players have been outliers to that norm. Below,
we take a look at the Cleveland Browns' top-five free-agent signings since
1999.
Cleveland Browns’ Top 5 free agent signings since 1999
#1 - Phil Dawson, Kicker
Not often a kicker would
be a franchise’s top free-agent signing in a 20-year span unless it was Phil Dawson.
He was a constant staple for the Browns for 14 years after their
return to the NFL in 1999. He
is a beloved figure in Cleveland and is still one of the fan favorites despite
playing for two teams after leaving the Browns.
Dawson scored the first points for the returning Browns in the
second game of the 1999 NFL season against the Tennessee Titans. Dawson holds almost all kicking
and scoring records for the Browns. In his 14 seasons with the Cleveland
Browns, Dawson connected on 305 of his 330 field goal attempts and 350 of his
358 extra-point attempts.
In 2019, Dawson signed a one-day deal with the Browns to retire
as a Browns player.
