The Cleveland Browns are not done building their roster.
They continued to add depth to their roster on Thursday, signing edge rusher Benton Whitley, according to NFL insider Aaron Wilson.
“Browns signed Benton Whitley,” Wilson wrote.
#Browns signed Benton Whitley
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 4, 2026
The move is a low risk addition for a Browns defense that is in the middle of a significant transition following the Myles Garrett trade. Cleveland is building around Jared Verse as the new face of the pass rush, and adding bodies at the position to compete for roster spots and push the room in training camp is exactly the kind of move you expect a front office to make at this time of year.
Whitley is a 27-year-old edge rusher out of Holy Cross who stands 6’4 and weighs 255 pounds. He has bounced around the league since entering as an undrafted free agent, spending time with the Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, and New York Giants across his NFL career. In six career regular season games he has shown flashes of the athleticism that kept teams interested in him, but has yet to carve out a consistent role on an active roster.
The Holy Cross pedigree is worth noting. Players who come out of smaller programs and stick around NFL rosters for multiple seasons do so because they bring something to the table that scouts and coaches value beyond raw production numbers. The fact that Whitley has remained in the league conversation this long after going undrafted tells you there is genuine ability there waiting to be developed in the right environment.
Whitley will have to earn whatever role he gets in Cleveland. But the Browns have shown a willingness to give players from unconventional backgrounds a real chance to prove themselves, and that culture gives a signing like this more upside than it might appear on the surface.
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