Browns lose $33 million pass rusher for season as they sign a replacement

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The Browns will be without their starting defensive end after he suffered a ruptured Achilles during a joint practice with the Bills.

Wright sustained the injury Thursday while participating in a one-on-one pass-rush drill against Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown.

Wright landed awkwardly during the rep and subsequently left the practice field on a cart.

Unfortunately, we won’t see him again playing in 2026.

Wright, who turns 26 in September, was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of UAB.

He has appeared in 51 regular-season games with 15 starts, recording 98 tackles and 11.5 sacks.

Wright produced 5.5 sacks and 37 tackles across 14 games for the Browns last season.

Cleveland also recently made a significant financial commitment to him, signing a three-year, $33 million contract extension in November 2025, keeping him under contract beyond his original rookie deal.

In a corresponding transaction, the Browns added veteran defensive end Derek Barnett on a one-year contract worth up to $5.5 million.

Barnett, 30, was the 14th overall selection by the Eagles in the 2017 NFL Draft after playing at Tennessee.

Barnett spent his first six-plus seasons with the Eagles and was part of their Super Bowl championship team following the 2017 season.

He later joined the Texans, where he spent the past three seasons.

Barnett is coming off back-to-back seasons where he recorded five sacks each, and for his career, he has 34.

Isaiah McGuire may be in line to start on the Browns’ frontline opposite Jared Verse, whom the Browns acquired — along with a collection of draft picks — for All-World pass rusher Myles Garrett in a deal with the Rams during the 2026 offseason.

McGuire has 5.5 career sacks across three seasons with the Browns and was a fourth-round pick in 2023, making 2026 the last season of his rookie-scale contract.