Tag: Browns roster moves

Browns sign S Jovante Moffatt from the team’s practice squad

Moffatt is an undrafted rookie from Middle Tennessee State

The Cleveland Browns filled one of the two open spots on the 53-man roster by signing safety Jovante Moffatt from their own practice squad. The team announced the move on Tuesday.

Moffatt is an undrafted rookie from Middle Tennessee State. He signed with the Browns shortly after the draft and has been on Cleveland’s practice squad since the season began. The 5-11, 213-pounder effectively fills the spot previously held by Montrel Meander, who was waived on Monday.

Cleveland still has an empty spot on the active roster after placing WR/KR JoJo Natson on injured reserve. That move also became official on Tuesday. Natson is out for the rest of the season after tearing his ACL in Sunday’s win over Washington. They also have an opening on the practice squad with Moffatt now being on the main roster.

Browns waive LB Montrel Meander

Meander played on special teams the last two weeks

The Cleveland Browns have waived reserve linebacker Montrel Meander. The Browns have yet to make an official announcement, but Meander no longer appears on the team’s website of active players.

Meander played exclusively on special teams in Weeks 2 and 3 after being promoted from the team’s practice squad. He could return to the practice squad if he goes unclaimed in the waiver process. Meander began his Browns career in 2019 as a safety after being claimed off waivers from the Jets.

He spent most of 2019 on the practice squad as a defensive back but has reinvented himself as a linebacker.

No corollary move has been announced by the team. Meander’s departure and the Monday move to place WR/KR JoJo Natson on injured reserve leave the Browns with two open roster spots.

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Browns waive undrafted rookie OT Alex Taylor from injured reserve

Taylor was waived with injury designation during Browns training camp

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Back when he signed with the Cleveland Browns following the 2020 NFL Draft, offensive tackle Alex Taylor was touted by many as one of the best undrafted free agent acquisitions around the league.

The long (6-foot-9) tackle with the spindly arms from South Carolina State performed capably enough during Senior Bowl week to generate some buzz, but the infatuation faded once the NFL finally put on pads. At just 294 pounds, his lack of strength and experience against most physical defenders was a real problem. Taylor got injured early in Browns training camp and wound up being waived with an injury designation.

Now Taylor has taken an injury settlement from the club. He is free to sign with any other team and the Browns will receive no compensation in return.

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Report: Browns are signing K Cody Parkey to the active roster

Austin Seibert missed both his kicking attempts on Sunday

Minutes after Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski concluded a Zoom press conference with the media where he was noncommittal about the issue, it seems the Browns are indeed making a move at the kicker position after all.

A report by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com indicates the Browns will sign kicker Cody Parkey off of the practice squad. That would spell the end of the 17-game run for Austin Seibert as Cleveland’s placekicker.

Seibert had a rough Week 1. He missed a field goal and an extra point in the 38-6 loss in Baltimore. His struggles with extra points have become a recurring issue; only Adam Vinatieri missed more than Seibert’s five failed conversions in 2019. Despite the struggles, Seibert earned a place on the All-Rookie team.

Parkey was signed to the Browns practice squad last week. He was the team’s full-time kicker back in 2016.

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Browns waive TE Pharaoh Brown and DT Eli Ankou

Browns waive TE Pharaoh Brown and DT Eli Ankou to make room for Joe Jackson and Vincent Taylor

With the additions of Joe Jackson and Vincent Taylor, the Cleveland Browns had to clear out two roster spots to accommodate them on the 53-man roster. As a result, the jubilation of making the Browns comes crashing down for TE Pharaoh Brown and DT Eli Ankou.

The Browns waived Brown and Ankou on Sunday to create space for the waiver claims acquired from other team’s cutdowns.

Waiving Brown takes the team back down to four tight ends: Austin Hooper, David Njoku, Harrison Bryant and Stephen Carlson. Brown played in nine games, starting six, for the Browns in 2019. He caught two passes for 27 yards as more of a blocking specialist.

Ankou was one of the pleasant stories of training camp, playing his way onto the initial 53-man roster and even getting some first-team reps. In nine games with the team in 2019, Ankou notched seven tackles.

Both remain practice squad eligible if they clear the next round of waivers.

Browns claim two defensive linemen off waivers

The corresponding roster moves are not yet known

The Cleveland Browns have two new additions to the 53-man roster. One day after the cutdown deadline, the Browns were awarded two players off waivers.

New to Cleveland are DE Joe Jackson and DT Vincent Taylor. The Browns successfully claimed the two off waivers with the 10th spot on the NFL’s waiver wire.

Jackson comes from Dallas, where he was a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Miami. He played sparingly as a rookie, recording five tackles in five games. He lost his roster spot to more seasoned additions by Dallas along the defensive front this year.

Taylor has 24 games of NFL experience in his three seasons. Initially a sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, Taylor spent last year in Buffalo. The Bills waived him on Saturday.

Taylor confirmed the news via Twitter,

The Browns have yet to reveal the corresponding roster moves.

Browns pull the plug on WRs Damion Ratley, Taywan Taylor

WRs Damion Ratley and Taywan Taylor were among the early cuts for the Browns

The Cleveland Browns have ended the runs for two of the young wide receivers of some prominence on the roster. Damion Ratley and Taywan Taylor were among the first players released on Saturday as the Browns cut down the roster to 53 by Saturday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline.

Ratley was a sixth-round pick by the John Dorsey-era Browns in 2018. The speedy Texas A&M product caught 25 passes for 344 yards and a touchdown in his two seasons in Cleveland as a vertical threat. He was used almost exclusively as a deep threat up the right sideline, and the limited role ability and an inability to contribute on special teams likely cost Ratley.

Taylor came to Cleveland in the summer of 2019 after being dumped by the Tennessee Titans. He was a third-round pick in 2017 by Tennessee and caught 37 passes in 2018 for the Titans, but it never clicked for Taylor in Cleveland. He did not register a single catch in his debut season in brown and orange.

Both are eligible for the Browns practice squad if they go unclaimed on the waiver wire.

2020 Browns roster cuts: Tracking each player released before deadline

2020 Browns roster cuts: Tracking each player released before and at the 53-man deadline

One of the hardest jobs for a GM and coaching staff is cutting the roster down. Saturday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline means the Browns must trim down to just 53 players on the active roster.

It’s a monumental task for rookie GM Andrew Berry and fellow rookie head coach Kevin Stefanski. They’ve already gotten a head start, making a handful of cuts even before the Friday night scrimmage at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Here’s a list of who has been cut by the Browns in advance of the deadline and at the final cuts. We’ll keep updating as the names are made official.

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Browns sign rookie OT Brady Aiello

Browns sign rookie OT Brady Aiello, an undrafted free agent from Oregon

While many teams are shedding veterans off rosters in advance of Saturday’s roster deadline, the Cleveland Browns continue to add youth. The Browns have signed rookie offensive tackle Brady Aiello on Friday morning.

Aiello is an undrafted rookie from Oregon. He was with the Minnesota Vikings until August 15th when he was waived by head coach Kevin Stefanski’s old team.

The Vikings connection gives an idea of why the Browns would have interest in Aiello at this juncture. At 6-6 and 307 pounds, he’s got some ability to play in the wide zone blocking scheme. Aiello has also played guard, and the positional versatility can be important in Cleveland as well.

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Browns waive 4 players in advance of roster cutdown deadline

J.T. Hassell is the only player waived with any NFL experience

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The Cleveland Browns have until Saturday at 4 p.m. ET to trim the active roster down to just 53 players, but they got a jump on the action on Thursday. The Browns announced they have waived four players.

Safety J.T. Hassell, cornerback Donnie Lewis Jr., wide receiver J’Mon Moore and defensive tackle Ricky Walker were all waived by the team. All are subject to waiver claims by other teams. If they go unclaimed, the Browns would be able to bring them back to the practice squad once that is established following the cutdowns.

Hassell is the only one of the cuts with any NFL experience. The safety played in four games for the Browns in 2019, recording seven tackles while appearing almost exclusively on special teams. Lewis was the team’s seventh-round pick in 2019 but has now failed to make the team in two seasons.

Cleveland’s roster now stands at 75 players.

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