On March 13th, 2025, the Cleveland Browns signed former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Maliek Collins to a two-year contract worth $20 million dollars. At the time it was considered a routine NFL free agent signing. But after the last two NFL drafts the Cleveland have completely revamped their interior defensive line.

With their second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft the Cleveland Browns selected Ohio State defensive tackle Michael Hall junior.  In the 2025 NFL draft the Browns used the 5th overall pick to take Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham. All three of these moves by the Cleveland Browns rebuilt the defensive tackle position on their roster. And Maliek Collins can be the perfect complement to both Graham and Hall.

The 6’ 2” 310 lbs. Maliek Collins played for the San Francisco 49ers in 2024; he registered 33 tackles and 5 sacks in 16 games played. That is very good production from an interior defensive lineman. Collins was drafted in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He played his college football at the University of Nebraska. He just turned 30 years old last April and still has some years left in him.

With Maliek Collins, Mason Graham, and Michael Hall junior the principle of the sum of the whole is greater than its parts. That means that each player will have their role in the 2025 Cleveland Browns defensive. Each players role will be the purpose of the bigger picture. And Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has a history of getting the very best out of defensive tackles. Looking back at the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles defenses by Jim Schwartz, the point of attack was the defensive line with those playoff teams. The 2017 Eagles won the Super Bowl with Jim Schwartz as their defensive coordinator.

I am not planning any playoff road trips for the Cleveland Browns just yet. But I do feel that an improvement on defense is warranted with the additions of Maliek Collins and Mason Graham. It is also warranted for the 2025 Cleveland Browns to have more than three wins. And that is improvement that all Browns fans want to see.