Former Vikings LB Signs with Browns
The Cleveland Browns needed more EDGE depth with training camp about seven weeks away, and they just so happened to tab a former Minnesota Viking: Benton Whitley.
Minnesota employed Whitley in 2022 and 2023, and he’ll try on his seventh team in five years for size this summer. He’ll aim to make the 53-man roster or perhaps the practice squad.
Cleveland Adds Familiar NFC North Depth before Camp
Whitley to CLE
The ex-Vikings will be at Browns training camp, as NBC Sports‘ Charean Williams wrote Thursday, “The Browns signed free agent defensive end Benton Whitley, the team announced on Thursday. Whitley is officially in his third NFL season out of Holy Cross. In 2025, he spent time on the Buccaneers’ practice squad but did not play a regular-season game.”
“The Rams originally signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2022, and he spent time on their practice squad as a rookie. He also has had stints with the Chiefs, Vikings and Giants.”
It’s a similar setup to Whitley’s time in Minnesota, latching on as a bottom-of-the-roster defender and hoping for a regular season invitation.
Career Resume
Whitley’s resume is almost entirely based on potential. He has played a total of six games for the Giants and Vikings, with 16 snaps on defense and 74 on special teams. It indicates he is primarily a special teams player, focused on securing a roster spot or, if Cleveland retains him, a practice-squad position.
In 2023, he moved among Tennessee, Minnesota, and New York, but recorded only one defensive snap with the Vikings. During his five games with the Giants, he played 15 defensive snaps, achieving one pass defensed, one forced fumble, and one safety.
While there are some unusual statistics in his limited playing time, the sample size is extremely small. Whitley is not competing for a starting role; he is simply aiming to make it through training camp.
Here’s his career destination resume to date:
- Los Angeles Rams (2022)
- Kansas City Chiefs (2022)
- Minnesota Vikings (2022–2023)
- New York Giants (2023–2024)
- Arizona Cardinals (2024)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2025)
- Cleveland Browns (2026–now)
Vikings Tenure
The Vikings signed Whitley from the Chiefs’ practice squad in 2022. For the next 13 months, he moved on and off Minnesota’s active roster and practice squad. In November 2023, the Giants signed him off the Vikings’ practice squad.
During his time in Minnesota, Whitley primarily played on special teams and was at the bottom of the outside linebacker depth chart. Now with Cleveland, he will compete this summer for a spot on the 53-man roster, hoping for a more significant role than he had with either the Vikings or Giants.
Browns’ LB Corps
Here’s the EDGE pecking order in for the Browns early June after the seismic Myles Garrett trade:
- Jared Verse
- Alex Wright
- Julian Okwara
- Isaiah McGuire
- Tyreak Sapp
- Logan Fano
- Khordae Syndor
- Benton Whitley
NFL.com’s Grant Gordon on the Browns’s new-look defense: “Replacing Myles Garrett, swiftly becoming an all-time pass-rushing great, is a task the Cleveland Browns are unlikely to accomplish. Still, maintaining the team’s defensive prowess in the seasons to come could be in the realm of reality as the Browns’ roster boasts a historical first when it comes to its youthful talent. Obtained in the Garrett trade with the Los Angeles Rams was Jared Verse, the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.”
“He’ll join Cleveland linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the 2025 Defensive Rookie of the Year, making the Browns the first team to roster defensive rookies of the year from each of the last two seasons since the AP began awarding DROTY in 1967. The closest such scenario came in 1980, when the Atlanta Falcons celebrated linebackers Al Richardson and Buddy Curry sharing the AP DROTY honor.”
DAZN‘s Jason Abbey ranked the Browns as the NFL’s fifth-worst team last week, noting, “The Tytus Howard and Elgton Jenkins signings were a strong start, but Zion Johnson has a lot to prove. And that’s step one. Jared Verse is a fine edge rusher, but he’d have to play out of his skin to avoid there being a dropoff with Myles Garrett going the other way.”
“Carson Schwesinger should go from strength to strength, and the new wideouts will help whoever starts at quarterback, but the Browns remain a year away from realistically competing.”
Whitley turned 27 in February. He’ll have to outperform McGuire and Sapp at training camp and in the preseason to stick around for the regular season — or hope for the aforementioned practice squad spot.
You must be logged in to post a comment.