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Derek Barnett's 'patience' pays off in opportunity with Browns
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- Derek Barnett's 'patience' pays off in opportunity with Browns
BEREA ― Derek Barnett was still itching to play football. But he wasn't going to sign with a team just for the sake of scratching that itch.
The 10-year veteran elected for free agency in March after 2½ seasons with the Houston Texans . The NFL's offseason passed by without Barnett signing, as did the first month of training camp, before he finally agreed to a deal with the Browns on Aug. 23.
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"Yeah, it was a little different this year," Barnett said recently, "but I was just trying to practice patience, and I knew eventually something would come about. So I was just trying to be patient in the process and not get too ahead of myself."
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The opportunity for Barnett finally came about because of unfortunate circumstances for the Browns . Cleveland lost starting defensive end Alex Wright to a torn Achilles suffered in its Aug. 20 joint practice with the Buffalo Bills .
That only accelerated the Browns ' search to find a veteran edge rusher, which had produced missed chance after missed chance. That included a failed signing of A.J. Epenesa in March, as well as August pursuits of Jadeveon Clowney and Za'Darius Smith that resulted in both signing elsewhere.
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That's where Barnett came into the picture. Now, it's about figuring out where he belongs in that picture.
"Well, again, he's played in this style of defense, so it's not that big of a transition," Browns coach Todd Monken said. "It's really not. It's really just getting used to what we call things, our terminology, and then just seeing what we have. We haven't been around Derek, and I've liked what I've seen so far."
Barnett's entire career has essentially been in a defensive scheme from the same tree as the one the Browns play under new defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg. The direct connection goes back to 2017, when he was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles .
Jan. 12, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) scrambles from Houston Texans defensive end Derek Barnett (95) during the first half of an AFC wild card game at Acrisure Stadium.
At that time, the Eagles — who went on to win the Super Bowl his rookie season — were coordinated on defense by Jim Schwartz. That's the same Schwartz who spent the past three seasons as Browns defensive coordinator before resigning after Monken was given the head-coaching job over him.
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Still, there's plenty of DNA shared between the defense Schwartz runs and what Rutenberg is installing. Another strain of similar connective tissue exists between the Browns' scheme and the one the Texans ran the last three seasons under head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke.
"Yeah, up front it's a lot of same as," Barnett said. "It's just some different lingo things, so just different language. But I think for the most part it's some similarities."
Barnett brings the experience of 112 regular-season and another 11 playoff games, including the previously mentioned Super Bowl win, to the Browns. More important, he brings 34 career sacks, including back-to-back five-sack seasons in 2024-25.
The Browns already have Jared Verse , acquired from the Los Angeles Rams in the Myles Garrett trade, at the right defensive end spot. Mason Graham and Maliek Collins , who only recently returned to practice, provide the foundation for their interior pass rush from the defensive tackle spots.
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Where Barnett exactly fits is something he's not even worried about at this point. Right or left defensive end, he said, "S---, wherever I can get in at."
Barnett and the Browns still have nearly two weeks to really start to figure it out before the season opener Sept. 13 in Jacksonville . For now, it's just about getting the 30-year-old adjusted to his new surroundings.
"I'm still trying to get up to speed and just every day just trying to get back in football conditioning," Barnett said. "You can run as much as you want, but it's different when you have the helmet, short pads on, tugging and pushing on 300-plus pound guys. So just every day just trying to get better and get ready for Week 1."
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Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Derek Barnett's 'patience' pays off in opportunity with Browns
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