Meet new Browns defensive tackle: Quinton Jefferson

Suddenly, the DT room is seemingly full

After last season, the Cleveland Browns were suddenly faced with the one position that was considered a unit of strength, becoming the largest problem area. That would have to be the defensive tackle group.

RELATED: LIST OF BROWNS FREE AGENTS

The unrestricted free agent list found several notable names: Shelby Harris, Jordan Elliott, Maurice Hurst, and practice squad member Chris Williams. All that was left on the roster was Dalvin Tomlinson and rookie Siaki Ika who barely played.

Ruh roh.

Next up, was the free agency period. GM Andrew Berry had the DT position scribbled in red at the top of his list to solve. Two years ago, the Browns’ defense under Joe Woods was a sieve as teams ran all over them. Now that Jim Schwartz is the defensive coordinator, one of his hallmarks is to stop the run. Period.

Hurst (6’-2”, 290 pounds) was viewed as a necessity to re-sign. On the first day of the legal tampering period, Berry did just that inking the run stuffer to a one-year deal worth $3.2 million. Which is a deal considering his ability to penetrate lanes and maintain his gap. Plus, the dollar amount fits into what analytics mandate to pay the DT position and he is just 29 years old.

Last year, Hurst was signed in free agency for just $1.24 million, so Berry is showing him that the team values his services.

Then Harris (6’-2”, 288 pounds) re-signed the following day. Yes, he will turn 33 years old during training camp and has lost a step or two. But he remains a viable force and will be a key contributor to the rotation. Last year he had 28 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, 6 tackles for losses, 5 batted passes, and one forced fumble. He also blocked a field goal.

Cleveland has traditionally kept just four defensive tackles, but last year under Schwartz, the coaching staff kept five. It is expected that this trend to continue. It is certainly reasonable to expect that Berry will sign several defensive tackles as camp fodder, and would surprise nobody if he drafted another young DT although at this point it appears the room is set.

Currently, the DT room is as follows: Tomlinson and Hurst as the assumed starters, with Harris and Ika manning the backup slots. That leaves room for one more.

Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

On Thursday, March 14, Berry reportedly signed what should be the fifth DT roster member when Quinton Jefferson agreed to terms.

Jefferson is not a well-known name among NFL fans although he did garner national attention for one game, but has been productive rushing the passer from the inside. With Schwartz on board, the importance of the defensive line was never more apparent for Cleveland until comparing the unit in 2023 to the ones before it.

Who exactly is this new player? What is his story? Can he become that final piece of the DT puzzle?

Beginnings

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Jefferson (6’-4”, 291 pounds) attended Woodland Hills High School. He was a standout basketball player and also played football where he started at weakside defensive end at just 219 pounds.

Being a native of Pittsburgh, he played at Heinz Field during halftime of a Steelers game at the pee-wee level once, and then in back-to-back Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League championship games during his final two seasons at Woodland Hills (winning one and losing one).

247Sports.com and rivals.com rated him as a three-star athlete. He was invited to play in the Big 33 All-Star game which pitted the best football seniors in Pennsylvania against the finest in Ohio played in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Iowa, Wisconsin, Maryland, Illinois, Cincinnati, Boston College, West Virginia, Syracuse, and Pitt offered him a scholarship. After visits to Iowa and Cincinnati, he chose Maryland.

Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images

After high school, he spent a year living at home with his parents while recovering from an injury and working the graveyard shift in the stockroom at Best Buy Electronics.

In his first three years at Maryland, he had 68 total tackles and four sacks. He tore his ACL during his junior year where he only played in three games.

He explained to the Seattle Times:

“It made me really prioritize my life and get my life organized. It helped me focus. I was literally just going to school, playing ball and coming home and being a dad. That was the structure I needed.”

Jefferson had 6.5 sacks in his senior year with 39 tackles. He accepted an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The NFL calls his name

Now, Jefferson is a new member of the DT room. And there is a spot waiting for him if he has a good training camp and can remain healthy.

As the April NFL draft approached in 2016, there was huge speculation that his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers would take him quite possibly on Day 3. Every athlete who grows up in Pittsburgh, their ultimate dream is to play for the Steelers.

The Steelers scouting department and head coach Mike Tomlin were very aware of Jefferson as a hometown kid. Tomlin has a love for local high school football programs. Then Jefferson was brought in for a pre-draft visit.

Tomlin explained to Seahawks.com:

“I’ve been really impressed with Quinton Jefferson on the interior. Pittsburgh kid, Woodland Hills guy. Really been impressed with how his game has developed. I just have a lot of respect not only for the players that play within that group, but schematically an approach to defensive play. I’m a fan of Pittsburgh high school football. I think anybody that lives in Western PA is. I’ve been going to high school football games the entire time I’ve been here. Got a lot of appreciation for the guys who have come through this area and ascending within the professional ranks.”

That was the fantasy. The reality was he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft with the #147 pick. Pittsburgh passed on his services four times and even selected DT Javon Hargrave in the third round.

While Jefferson didn’t end up playing for his hometown team, he signed a four-year deal for $2.59 million including a $253,823 signing bonus, $253,823 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $648,456.

His rookie season ended just as it begun. After the Week 7 game against the Arizona Cardinals, he suffered a knee injury during a practice that required surgery. He only appeared in three games and had just one tackle and no other stats.

Jefferson was then placed on IR. He had a decent training camp in 2017 but was a final day cutdown.

The following day, Jefferson was claimed by the Los Angeles Rams, but was cut nine days later then signed to their practice squad. The Seahawks signed him three weeks later and spent the remainder of the year on their active roster.

Jefferson made national news during the 2017 season. During the fourth quarter of a 30-24 road loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jefferson and teammate Sheldon Richardson were ejected from the game during the victory formation. As Jefferson was trotting off the field alone into the visitor’s tunnel, somebody from the stands tossed a water bottle at him, and almost hit him in the head. Jefferson stopped, took his helmet off, and then walked around to the area of the stands where the bottle was launched from.

As he is standing on the sideline jawing with Jaguar fans, stadium security had one arm trying to move him back to the tunnel. One security then man climbs up into the stands. As the footage continues, suddenly a beer bottle almost hits Jefferson in the head while a security guard ducks. Instantly, Jefferson yanked free from security and headed over to the seven-foot wall angrily and attempted to climb by grabbing onto the hand rail and placing his cleat on a small ledge. Security then grabs him and pulls him back as another drink container is hurled his way. Four security officers then were able to steer him into the tunnel.

In the locker room, obviously, he was questioned. Jefferson stated:

“I am just wondering if it is the right call to throw beer on me. Just saying. I am walking and not talking to anybody, and somebody throws beer and then another drink. What would you do?”

Looking at the video, all of the projectiles seemed to come from about the same place with similar angles.

Looking back, perhaps Jefferson should have just kept going into the Seahawks locker room. He did have his helmet on, and at that time it was just one bottle. Yes, all of us as men want to stand up for ourselves and retaliate. It is just engrained into our DNA and deals with ego. But an NFL player must find a way to be above it. If Jefferson had succeeded in getting up into the stands, for one he would be guessing at which fan(s) tossed the drinks. Secondly, an almost 300-pound man in full pads in the stands beyond angry would have been a no-win for everybody.

Having said that, all of the writers here at Dawgs By Nature would have gone into the stands and taken no prisoners then gotten MMA offers. Just saying. (Editor’s Note: Please understand sarcasm because I’m too old for all that.)

Including that 2017 season while with Seattle, for the next three seasons he had just 87 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 42 QB hits, two fumble recoveries, 13 sacks, and seven batted passes.

The Seahawks then allowed him to test the free-agent waters. He signed a two-year deal with the Buffalo Bills but was released after only one year in which he had 23 tackles, three tackles for loss, three sacks, and one pass defense. His next stop was with the Las Vegas Raiders on a one-year deal where he started all 17 games with 47 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Jefferson’s last two seasons was one year back in Seattle and then with the Jets. He had 5.5 sacks with the Seahawks and six last year with New York with 26 combined QB hits.

In a Week 15 loss by the Jets against the Miami Dolphins, Jefferson left the game after suffering a first-half hip injury and did not return. The Jets then placed him on IR.

In addition to his ACL tear in college, he has an extensive injury history since joining the NFL. He has had a thumb issue and ACL tear in his knee (2016), hand (2017), hip, Jones fracture (pinkie toe), and oblique injury (2019), knee, foot, hip, and ankle (2020), back (2021), and hip (2023).

Despite his injury, Jefferson had a Pro Football Focus grade of 73.2 and had the best season of his career. He was ranked 28^th out of 105 qualified interior defensive linemen (min. 300 defensive snaps).

Now, he is hopefully going to be in the Browns’ DT rotation. He is now a 26-year-old defensive lineman playing on a one-year prove-it contract with no guarantees beyond this season. He is a key pass-rusher and will help the D-Line in their overall defensive performance.

Jefferson was quoted on YardBarker:

“Everything happens for a reason. Maybe I needed to get my hip injured. Maybe I needed to get cut. I appreciate where I’m at now. I know what it’s like to be on the other side, and I never want to go back there.”

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Jefferson certainly has worked for everything he has to this point. He is known as a hard worker and loves the game. If anything, he is consistent. He’s veteran enough to know what he did well, veteran enough to know how he practiced and how he prepared for that game so that can become the norm.

He has versatility in that he has a lot of experience coming off the edge if the Browns need him to play an outside spot.

Jefferson and his wife Nadia have four children, two of which are twins. The couple met while both were students at Maryland. Nadia maintains a blog, “Jefferson Party of 6,” where she chronicles the family’s life, shares photos and gives restaurant recommendations.