Everyone knows that the Cleveland Browns need to replace 80% of their offensive line this offseason, and there\u2019s a good chance that at least one of the offensive tackles will be on a cost-effective contract heading into 2026.<\/p>\n
Assuming the Browns find one of their starting offensive tackles in the 1st or 2nd round of this year\u2019s draft, they could focus on signing the other starter for 2026 in free agency. Cleveland is also reportedly in on the Tyler Linderbaum sweepstakes at center, which means that quite a bit of their free agency budget would be tied up in his new contract if he chooses to be a Brown.<\/p>\n
Here are 3 free agent offensive tackles who could be a \u201cbridge\u201d starter on either side if Andrew Berry and Co. aren\u2019t confident in Dawand Jones staying healthy enough to be effective in 2026.<\/p>\n
2025 team: Minnesota Vikings<\/p>\n
2025 stats: 16 games\/9 starts<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been advocating for the Browns to sign Skule throughout the past two free agent cycles, and he\u2019s available again in 2026. He consistently ranks in the middle of the pack when it comes to offensive tackle performance every year, and he\u2019s usually able to be had at a bargain bin price.<\/p>\n
If Cleveland drafts Spencer Fano to be their starting LT in 2026, Justin Skule is more than talented enough to hold down the right side as a full-time starter for at least one season.<\/p>\n
2025 stats: 6 games\/4 starts<\/p>\n
Jones fell out of favor in 2025 as he was pretty underwhelming during his first four starts of the year, which caused him to be benched. Yes, targeting someone after they were just benched isn\u2019t ideal, but Chicago was incredibly high on him the previous three years when he was their full-time starter at left tackle.<\/p>\n
Signing Jones could be a no-brainer type of move for Cleveland if he\u2019s able to be signed close to the current contract projections. The only problem with Jones is his age; at only 26 years old, he could be looking for a longer-term deal. It would be incredibly surprising to see the Browns sign one of these free agent tackles to anything more than a one-year contract.<\/p>\n
2025 team: Los Angeles Chargers<\/p>\n
2025 stats: 13 games\/10 starts<\/p>\n
Though he had a down year in 2025, Pipkins could be the top option at offensive tackle when it comes to getting the most \u201cbang for your buck\u201d in free agency this year. He was essentially a four-year starter for the Chargers, spending time at both left and right tackle. His versatility and experience could be exactly what the Browns are looking for when it comes to a free agent offensive tackle.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a true plug-and-play offensive tackle who could be effective wherever Cleveland needs him, and at a discount price when it comes to how productive he could be in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone knows that the Cleveland Browns need to replace 80% of their offensive line this offseason, and there\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[86,85,54,51955,3295,1696,2337,7,6],"class_list":["post-782669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cleveland-browns","tag-browns","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-cleveland-browns-depth-chart","tag-cleveland-browns-free-agency","tag-cleveland-browns-roster","tag-clevelandbrowns","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116149511485167590","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}