There are few rosters in the NFL with more question marks than the Cleveland Browns, but the Arizona Cardinals are absolutely one of those teams. After firing head coach Jonathan Gannon and eating a hefty portion of franchise quarterback Kyler Murray’s contract to release him, they have a lot of cleaning up to do this offseason, just like the Browns.
One area where the Browns don’t have a ton of work to do is on defense, as most of 2025’s stellar unit will be returning aside from a few veterans such as Devin Bush, Shelby Harris, and Martin Emerson. If the Browns want to bring back a familiar face to replace Harris, the Cardinals made that possible by cutting one of their key defensive linemen.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shared that the Cardinals have released defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. He had a cap number of $16.2 million, and he’ll now be seeking a new home at 32 years old.
“The #AZCardinals have released veteran DT Dalvin Tomlinson, who had a cap number of $16.2M,” Rapoport said.
Another former #Browns legend on the market https://t.co/M6a6RY8gIP
— Tom Moore (@Tom_RedRight88) March 6, 2026
Tomlinson spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons in Cleveland, playing 16 games and recording three sacks each year. With the Browns having a lot of voids to fill and limited flexibility to do so, it’s unlikely Tomlinson would be in the cards, and it’s time for him to find a legitimate contender at this point in his career.
The Browns cleared up $36 million in cap room recently by restructuring Deshaun Watson’s deal, and Tony Grossi believes that space will be used primarily for one big splash in free agency. Whether that’s the right approach remains to be seen, as there are a number of holes in this offense that could use some love, and this team is not one player away from where it needs to get to.
This free agent market has a lot of talent, but very few blue-chip superstars who are going to come in and be able to change the trajectory of the team. Tomlinson is a valuable piece who is going to make somebody very happy, but it probably won’t be the Browns.
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