Greg Newsome played in the slot thought the 2022 season. He was just ok, not good, not bad. From what I have seen, it seems that he is not open to play as a slot corner in the future.

Why is this? Well, slot corner is not a place where you put talents like Ward, Emerson, or Newsome. But Greg Newsome is not that good?

No, I think he is good, here is why. When we drafted him, he was viewed as a bit of a steal in the late first round. He had a great rookie season playing on the outside and was viewed highly by fans. However, he was put in the slot corner role, which really caps his ceiling. He was a good corner before we put him in the slot. Good corners should not be in the slot. I think he is just as good as Martin Emerson.

So, what do we do? We have great outside corners with only 2 starting outside corner spots. Trade Greg Newsome? I don’t like this idea, because I still value him as a good pick in the late first round. He would likely get traded for a 2nd or a 3rd. I think more than likely the player we draft with the 2nd round pick will not be as good as Greg Newsome, unless we hit a home run. So no to trading Newsome. What about Martin Emerson? Martin Emerson would also probably go for a 2nd or a 3rd. The reason being is he as only played one year, which is likely not enough to convince teams he is worth a 1st round pick. I think Martin Emerson is better than a 2nd round pick.  Trade Denzel Ward? Denzel Ward might get you a 1st, but it would not make financial sense. Make Newsome the backup? No, he is too good to be a backup.

I have said no to all of these things, and we still have a problem. What do we do? I think we do this: when one of the corners is injured, then we can play someone cheap in the slot, and play the 2 healthy outside corners in the outside. But when all the 3 corners are healthy (which might not happen a ton) I think the 3 corners might just have to take turns being in the slot. They can then all get lots of playing time in the outside corner where they can shine. Remember, these 3 corners will not always be healthy, so this compromise would only happen on occasions when they are all healthy. What do you think the browns will do at cornerback?

photo credit: “Greg Newsome II” by Erik Drost is licensed under CC BY 2.0