Jerry Glanville, who coached in the NFL for 19 years, including head coaching stints with the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons, famously pointed out that the NFL stands for “not for long” when arguing with a referee during a game.
While Glanville was referring to a potentially short career for the referee if he continued to make what Glanville considered to be bad calls, it is a statement that has long held for players in a profession where the average career spans just a little more than three years.
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Three years also happens to be the timeframe until the Cleveland Browns move into their new domed stadium next to Cleveland Hopkins Airport in suburban Brook Park. While it may not have the charm of, say, the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico, with its iconic mountain that has been on display during the World Cup, the dome will be shiny and new, which will be good enough.
Thinking about 2029 and the new stadium has us wondering which members of Cleveland’s current defense will still be around to actually play a game as the home team in the new digs.
NFL rosters churn on a regular basis, of course, as players exit via free agency and rookies come in every year through the NFL Draft. So even if the Browns were staying downtown, the roster would look different come 2029.
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But it is the slow season as everyone waits for training camp to open later this month, so let’s run through the current roster and make some educated guesses.
Defensive line
Jared Verse, the player the Browns had to have from the Los Angeles Rams in the Myles Garrett trade, will play out his fifth-year option in 2028. As long as he is willing to re-sign with the Browns, he will still be here in 2029. Mason Graham will still be on his rookie contract, so let’s reserve a locker room chair for the man from Michigan.
After that? The Browns liked what they saw from Adin Huntington as an undrafted free agent last season. Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire could play their way into the team’s future plans if they continue trending in the right direction. But outside of Verse and Graham, no one is a lock.
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Linebacker
Carson Schwesinger, the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, can start figuring out which locker he wants to claim. But it is hard to see anyone else from the current group still being here in 2029, with the outside shot of rookie Justin Jefferson, if only because he will still be on his rookie contract.
Secondary
As long as rookie Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is everything people believe he can be, then the former Toledo Rocket should be a mainstay of the secondary in a few years. Fellow safety Grant Delpit may not even make it through 2026 with the Browns, depending on how things go in the final year of his contract. And people seem to love Ronnie Hickman, but the Browns did not seem in a hurry to offer him anything more than a one-year deal as a restricted free agent, so he is a very soft maybe.
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At cornerback, it would be nice to see Denzel Ward be a lifetime member of the franchise, but 2029 would be his 12th season in the league, and given his history with concussions, that is a big projection no matter how well he might still be playing at that time. Tyson Campbell is only three years younger than Ward, so while that may give him a better shot, it is certainly no guarantee.
So where did we land with the final tally?
Verse, Graham, Schwesinger, and McNeil-Warren are locks – or as close as locks can be in the NFL.
Landing squarely in the “maybe but probably not” category for different reasons: Huntington, Wright, McGuire, Jefferson, Delpit, Hickman, Ward, and Campbell.
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Hey, like coach Glanville pointed out all those years ago, the NFL is a league where longevity is not something the players can ever take for granted.
What do you say, Browns fans? Did we get this right, or did we horribly botch the assignment? Let us know which current players on the defense will still be around in 2029 in the comments!
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