I don’t need to be that guy, but I even have been saying this move was a mistake from the second they introduced the concept last off-season. Give Newsome credit as he tried to be a superb soldier about it and embrace his role within the slot. He said all the best things when it happened, however it never made much sense. Why would you draft a player in the primary round at a premium position, and when he plays great and show tons of promise as a rookie, move him into the slot in his second season? The Browns didn’t have one nickel corner on their 2022 53-man roster. It was just Newsome, who had never done it with any regularity before.
One more reason it was doomed from the beginning is the cash. A high-end outside cornerback within the NFL could make $20 million per 12 months, while one of the best nickel cornerbacks within the league make about $5 million per 12 months. Newsome’s play dropped off, as to be expected, as he tried admirably to play out of position. Nonetheless, he spoke up at the tip of the season about his future role with the Browns.
“It’s difficult, especially going from outside to inside. I like playing outside, too, so I mean, it’s definitely a task that I would love to have, but more so, I feel like I would love to have it more on a more matchup basis as a substitute of just having me just be contained in the whole time. So, yeah, that is something that I’m sort of going to work through.”
More recently, Newsome took to Twitter and easily wrote “Outside!!” in retweeting a highlight of his, referencing where he’s lined up on the play.
outside!! https://t.co/cAfZNZBwb9
— Greg Newsome II (@gnewsii) January 20, 2023
Newsome has all the time been good when lined up outside and he appears to prefer that to his role in 2022. It is for certain that his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is aware of the difference in monetary value placed on his positionality and is watching how Newsome’s role is defined going forward. It is going to be quite intriguing to see how the Browns and particularly latest defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz wish to deploy their cornerbacks. The Browns have three good ones, and in the event that they want all of them on the sector at the identical time, Newsome could also be asked to play inside again, which he’s already pushing back on. On the very least, the Browns need to amass a real nickel cornerback this off-season in order that Newsome is not all the time forced inside out of necessity. Cornerbacks are inclined to miss games, so if the Browns have two of Denzel Ward, Newsome, and M.J. Emerson healthy, plus a slot cornerback, it would potentially allow Newsome the liberty to play outside on a more regular basis.
Here is my article on available Free Agent Slot Cornerbacks.
