The Cleveland Browns are expecting a full season with Deshaun Watson at quarterback, and what that could mean has generated the offseason headlines for the NFL team.

But the Browns’ heavy lifting in the offseason has come on defense, with Cleveland hiring veteran defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and investing in its defensive line.

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The latter emphasis included signing former Alabama standout Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency to a four-year, $57 million contract.

“We’re going to make some crazy stuff happen with this front,” Tomlinson said as Cleveland’s offseason program was ending.

Schwartz is the leading proponent of the wide-nine defensive scheme, and Tomlinson said he likes what he’ll be doing as a defensive tackle in the system.

“Just being a big, powerful guy,” Tomlinson said, “when they just tell you to go and explode off the ball, you can use your weight to your advantage at that point and get to use all your power, and you don’t have to just sit there catching blocks. …

“With the systems I’ve been in, some of them have been attack fronts, but it’s just a different type of attack defense. I feel like this one is just the most aggressive as they get. Just as a defensive lineman, to be able to use all your power and explosiveness every single play is like a dream come true.”

Holdovers for Cleveland’s defensive line include two-time All-Pro end Myles Garrett, Jordan Elliott, who had the most snaps among the defensive tackles; and Alex Wright, who, because of injuries to Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, played half the defensive snaps at end as a rookie from Elba High School and UAB.

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The defensive-line additions this offseason include tackle Maurice Hurst and end Ogbo Okoronkwo in free agency and tackle Siaki Ika and end Isaiah McGuire in the NFL Draft.

Cleveland also traded for Greenville High School alumnus Za’Darius Smith, who has registered 36 sacks in his past 49 NFL regular-season games. Primarily an outside linebacker during that span, Smith will play defensive end for the Browns.

Tomlinson and Smith played together with the Minnesota Vikings last season.

“Me joking with him, he was going to miss me that much, he had to follow me out here,” Tomlinson said. “Super excited to have Z out here with me.”

Among the NFL’s 32 teams in the 2022 season, Cleveland finished 20th in points allowed, 15th in yards allowed and 25th in rushing yards allowed. Only two teams yielded more rushing touchdowns than the Browns last season.

“Any time you get a mix of veteran and young players, I think that’s a good recipe to have success,” Cleveland defensive-line coach Ben Bloom said. “You have guys that have had a lot of success in this league — some guys at one team, some guys at multiple teams — like Za’Darius or Myles, who’s been here, guys who know how to win in the NFL and the right way to approach the job on a daily basis. Obviously, Dalvin falls in that category, too. When you get guys in the room that show their way of being pros, and you get younger guys that are hungry and want to learn and learn from them, you got a chance to have a pretty good culture of work ethic and effort and being a top-tier pro football player.”

Cleveland’s rookies are scheduled to report for training camp on July 19 and the veterans come in on July 21. The Browns will open training camp at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, before returning to Ohio on July 31 to prepare for their preseason opener. The Browns kick off the NFL’s preseason schedule in the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, where Cleveland will play the New York Jets on Aug. 3.

“It’s super beneficial because it’s just you and your teammates,” Tomlinson said about the Browns’ trip to the Greenbrier. “I feel like you bond on a whole new level, and it’s all football.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.