Cleveland has reportedly signed DT Maliek Collins
The Cleveland Browns have reportedly signed veteran defensive tackle Maliek Collins to a two-year deal.
Cleveland’s defense was missing something for most of the 2024 season, and that “something” was the ability to apply pressure up the middle in the team’s base packages.
Rookie DT Michael Hall Jr. showed flashes of above-average pass-rushing ability when on the field, and Dalvin Tomlinson could get an occasional push on early downs, but consistency was a huge problem compared to 2023.
Maliek Collins was one of the better interior pass rushers available on the market, and he’ll undoubtedly be able to help the defense in multiple ways this season.
Maliek the FREAK. #Browns #DawgPound #NFL
pic.twitter.com/8W0QBwcxHj— Matt Wilson (@CoachWilson66) March 12, 2025
Name
Maliek Collins
Position
Defensive Tackle
Height/Weight
6’2”, 310 Lbs.
2024 Team
Stats
2024: 17 games – 17 starts: 33 tackles, 5 TFL, 5 sacks, 2 FR
Career: 136 games – 129 starts: 239 tackles, 51 TFL, 30.5 sacks, 1 FF, 8 FR, 4 pass deflections, 1 INT
PFF Grade: 57.9
2024 Contract
$3,068,000 cap number – Designated as a post-June 1 cut by the 49ers
Fit with Browns
Maliek Collins was tailor-made for the Jim Schwartz defense, specifically referring to the interior pass-rushing element.
Last season, Cleveland struggled to get pressure on the quarterback in the A and B gaps unless they brought additional players on a blitz. This allowed opposing quarterbacks to step up in the pocket and gave them a better shot to avoid Myles Garrett and the rest of the edge rushers.
Collins will most likely be able to give the Browns’ defense some of what it was consistently missing in 2024.
Current Browns player the trade could impact
Shelby Harris. Unlike some competitive situations, this could actually affect Shelby Harris in a good way heading into 2025.
Though Harris was pretty effective in 2024, he was even better in 2023 on a snap-by-snap basis and for one main reason: He was playing less, which kept him fresh throughout each game.
Harris played close to 60% of total defensive snaps in 2024 as opposed to 2023 when he played 42% of snaps.
How the acquisition could impact the NFL Draft
The Collins signing could impact Cleveland’s draft plans by encouraging them to focus on a different style or type of defensive tackle in April.
The Browns could be interested in a bigger, two-gapping run stopper to help eat up blocks on early downs now.
Reported Contract
2-year, $20 million deal with $13 million fully guaranteed
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