Martin Emerson

A late-July Achilles tear cost cornerback Martin Emerson the entire 2025 season. It appears the injury will also end Emerson’s Browns tenure. The team is not expected to re-sign the free agent, according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.

A third-round pick in 2022, Emerson came off the bench in 11 of 17 appearances as a rookie. He then took a starting job from Greg Newsome during a four-interception second season and continued in that role in 2024. Emerson did not pick off any passes that year, though, and Pro Football Focus ranked him a bottom-10 corner.

Despite Emerson’s struggles in his most recent healthy season, he started a career-high 15 games and led Browns corners in snap share (76.48%). A similar workload may have been in store had Emerson stayed healthy last year, especially with Newsome on the trade block at the time. The Browns pulled the trigger on a Newsome deal a couple of months later, sending him to Jacksonville in an October swap for fellow corner Tyson Campbell.

General manager Andrew Berry said he would “love to have [Emerson] back” in 2026, per Cabot, but he acknowledged it could be difficult because the Browns have two set starters at corner. Between the Jags and Browns, Campbell logged the second 17-start season of his five-year career. PFF ranked Campbell a solid 30th among 112 corners. He will continue opposite Denzel Ward, Emerson’s former running mate, next season.

Now eight months removed from a severe injury, Emerson is a free agent at an inopportune time. Assuming the 25-year-old lands another contract, it will be a low-cost deal.

July 30: Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that Emerson has beeen diagnosed with a torn Achilles, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The injury is all but certain to sideline the fourth-year cornerback for the entire 2025 season, which will tank his free agency stock next spring.

July 29: Martin Emerson did not finish practice for the Browns on Tuesday, being carted off, and it does not look like the young cornerback will be ready to return anytime soon.

An MRI will be conducted to determine the damage of an Achilles injury Emerson sustained, but NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport report the tests are expected to reveal a significant tear. This would threaten to sideline Emerson for the season, with ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler indicating the team is not optimistic here. As Emerson was carted off, Garafolo adds Jimmy Haslam received a seemingly negative update from Browns trainers.

This was to be an important season for Emerson; his rookie contract expires at year’s end. The Browns have used the former third-round pick mostly as an outside corner. This injury stands to impact Emerson’s free agency value while hurting a Cleveland defense that needs to prop up an offense carrying major questions. From 2022-24, Emerson had missed one game.

Emerson had usurped Greg Newsome as the Browns’ No. 2 corner, outsnapping the older cover man in 2023 and ’24. The Browns have not conducted known extension talks with Emerson, who turns 25 later this year, but he naturally would have drawn such interest even with Denzel Ward‘s big-ticket deal on the payroll. In light of Tuesday’s setback, Newsome figures to go from trade chip to back in the team’s good graces.

Newsome trade buzz circulated last year and resurfaced around the draft. Cleveland having Emerson contracted would have helped the team stomach trading its third CB regular, as Newsome is attached to a higher salary ($13.38MM) due to being on a fifth-year option. Suddenly, Newsome figures to be a far more important player on Jim Schwartz‘s latest Browns defense. The Newsome trade buzz also emerged before it was known the Browns were not, in fact, taking WR/CB Travis Hunter second overall. Though, a summer report also indicated a trade could remain in play. Newsome now looks set to play out his rookie contract in Cleveland.

Pro Football Focus did not have a high opinion of Emerson’s 2024 work. The advanced metrics site graded him as a bottom-10 corner last year; Newsome, though, checked in only five spots higher (106th). PFF had a higher opinion of Emerson’s work in 2023 (67th) and 2022 (23rd). Nik Needham, Tony Brown and 2023 fifth-round pick Cameron Mitchell reside as backup options for the Browns. A former Dolphins regular, Needham has extensive slot and boundary experience.

If the Browns want to shop for a new third option, Rasul Douglas and Asante Samuel Jr. remain available. As does Stephon Gilmore, who is looking to play a 14th season. Low expectations for this Browns edition may deter Gilmore, but a vacancy now exists. Kendall Fuller, who has slot and perimeter experience, is also a free agent. The Dolphins took Jack Jones and Mike Hilton off the market last weekend.