Grant Delpit Officially Signs Extension With Browns But Injury Looms Large
Week 14 came with some rare, Sunday personnel news for the Browns as reports revealed the franchise was set to announce a three-year, $36-million extension with safety Grant Delpit.
On Monday, the two sides made the move official, as the 25-year-old put pen to paper on the deal.
“I’m excited to further my career in Cleveland," Delpit said in a statement from the team. "The city has shown me nothing but love since the day I was drafted. The Haslams, AB, all of my coaches and teammates, I can’t say enough good things about everyone and the environment since I’ve been here. I look forward to continuing this winning culture and showing the city of Cleveland the love back that they give me.
Delpit is having a tremendous season for the Browns after some ups and downs in 2022 during what turned out to be Joe Woods' final year as defensive coordinator. A strong finish to the campaign paved the way for new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to find a perfect role for him in his well-established 4-3 scheme.
In year one under Schwartz, Delpit leads the team in total tackles with 80, while also adding 1.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss, an interception and a forced fumble. Additionally, he's become one of the better coverage safeties in football, falling in the top 20 for coverage ability based on PFF's metrics.
“When we began the season, our defensive staff set the goal of leading the NFL in three categories: Physical Toughness, Effort and—most importantly—Badassery," team general manager Andrew Berry said of locking up the 2020 second-round pick . "Grant’s competitive, high-energy, on-field personality is the perfect embodiment of these characteristics. To see Grant blossom into a disruptive, heat-seeking missile in the run game while maintaining the ability to match-up in man coverage has been particularly rewarding for our organization because of the adversity that defined his early career. We’ve seen his work ethic and mental toughness in full force as he battled back from an Achilles tear as a rookie, and he’s done nothing but make up for lost time since. We are happy that Grant will be a member of our team for the foreseeable future.”
With the good news of Delpit's extension also comes the sobering reality that he is also the latest Browns player to suffer a potentially concerning injury.
The fourth-year veteran left Sunday's win over the Jaguars with a groin injury just several minutes into the fourth quarter. Head coach Kevin Stefanski reveled Monday that they're still working through all the details on the severity of the injury, painting a potentially ominous picture about his availability for the remainder of the season.
"It’s frustrating that the injury occurred yesterday, but I am doing everything in my power to get back as soon as possible to help the team win," Delpit said in that aforementioned statement.
Delpit is certainly no stranger to returning from injury. As Berry eluded to, Delpit had to miss his entire rookie season with a torn Achilles. He's growth since then speaks for itself – in the form of this newly minted extension.
Losing Delpit for an extended period of time would put the Browns secondary to the test in the team's pursuit of a playoff berth over the final four weeks of the season.
As if the team hasn't been tested enough with injuries to key players like Nick Chubb, Deshaun Watson, Denzel Ward and others. Monday brought even more unfortunate injury news between the concerns over Delpit and the announcement that rookie tackle Dawand Jones would be done for the season due to a knee injury that requries surgery.
