Browns sign Anthony Walker, a ‘smart, tough’ linebacker (3.19.21)

For Immediate Release

March 19, 2021

Former Colts starter has racked up 321 tackles over the past 3 seasons

By Andrew Gribble, ClevelandBrowns.com Senior Staff Writer

The Browns are adding another smart, tough and accountable player to a defense looking to take another step forward in 2021.

LB Anthony Walker, a regular starter and leader for the Colts over the past three seasons, signed with the Browns on Friday, giving them their third big addition to the defense since the start of the new league year.

“We are adding another smart, tough football player to the fold,” Stefanski said. “This is a guy that plays hard, plays fast, plays nasty. He can be a quarterback for the defense out there. Really intelligent, heady player.”

Walker, who appeared in 57 games with 48 starts over the past four seasons, visited the Browns at the team facility in Berea on Thursday before signing Friday.

“Just in spending some time with him, he loves diving into the X’s and O’s of this game,” Stefanski said. “Also, he has just proven to be a tremendous teammate over the course of his career.”

A fifth-round selection out of Northwestern, Walker took over as a full-time starter in his second season and promptly became one of the Colts’ most productive players. He amassed 105 tackles in 2018 and a career-best 124 in 2019. He’s had one interception in each of the last three seasons and missed just one game during that stretch.

Walker joins a Browns linebackers room that will feature the recently re-signed Malcolm Smith and a young core of Sione Takitaki and Mack Wilson — both of whom are entering their third NFL seasons — and Jacob Phillips, a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Cleveland’s leading tackler from 2020, B.J. Goodson, is a free agent.

Walker is the third free agent on the defensive side of the ball to sign with the Browns since the start of the new league year. S John Johnson III (Rams) and DE Takkarist McKinley (Las Vegas) agreed to terms Wednesday and signed Friday.

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