May 12 (UPI) — The Cleveland Browns agreed to sign free agent safety Damontae Kazee to a one-year contract, a source familiar with the deal told UPI on Monday.
Kazee, 31, spent the last three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The eight-year veteran totaled 31 combined tackles, two passes defensed and an interception over 15 appearances last season.
Kazee signed a two-year, $6 million deal with the Steelers in 2023. The veteran defensive back entered the league as a fifth-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2017 NFL Draft. Kazee spent his first four seasons with the Falcons.
He hauled in a league-high seven interceptions in 2018. Kazee spent the 2021 campaign with the Dallas Cowboys. He was suspended for the final three games of the 2023 regular season for repeated violations of the NFL’s player safety rules.
Kazee was tied for 76th in defensive rating among safeties who were in for at least 20% of 1,216 snaps last season, including to Pro Football Focus. He received the 74th-best rating in 2023 and seventh-best rating in 2022.
Kazee was rated No. 59 among safeties in 2021, the last season he started at least 10 games. He started 15 games for the Cowboys that season.
Ronnie Hickman, Grant Delpit, Trey Dean, Christopher Edmonds and Donovan McMillon are among the other safeties on the Browns’ roster. The team released Juan Thornhill, who started 11 games last season, in February. Rodney McLeod, who started five games last season for the Browns, announced his retirement.
