Browns roster moves – Page 6 – Syndication Server

Browns swap UDFA defenders, bring back George Obinna and cut Jeffery Whatley

Obinna is back after being cut on July 31st

The Cleveland Browns made a move at the bottom of the 80-man active roster, swapping back in one undrafted rookie free agent for another.

The Browns brought back defensive end George Obinna, who was part of the team’s initial UDFA class but was waived on July 31st. To make room for the 6-2, 245-pound pass rusher, the team waived another UDFA, DT Jeffery Whatley.

Obinna returns with a chance to make a name for himself when the team goes into full padded practice on Monday, August 17th. He holds the Sacramento State school record for sacks and was a two-time All-Big Sky performer. His size offers some ability to possibly transition to more of an outside LB pass rush specialist.

Browns sign OG Jovahn Fair to the active roster

Fair is an undrafted rookie from Temple and an Akron native

The Cleveland Browns continue to try and build offensive line depth. A day after signing veteran free agent Michael Dunn, the team announced it has inked another free agent lineman to a contract.

Jovahn Fair, an undrafted rookie guard from Temple, is the newest member of the Browns offensive line. Fair joins the team after initially signing as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this offseason.

He was a four-year starter at Temple at guard. Fair is a Northeast Ohio native, a graduate of Akron Firestone High School.

In order to make room for Fair on the 80-man roster, the Browns released CB Jameson Houston.

Browns sign free agent OG Michael Dunn

Browns sign free agent OG Michael Dunn and waive UDFA TE Nate Wieting

It didn’t take long for Kevin Stefanski’s prophecy to come true. Cleveland’s head coach said earlier this weekend that the team was looking to sign more offensive line talent to fill in the gap left by three players opting out. On Sunday, the team made it a reality.

The Browns have signed free agent offensive lineman Michael Dunn. Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

Dunn last played in the XFL in March. He was the starting right guard for the Seattle Dragons. The 6-5, 315-pound Maryland product does have NFL experience, playing on the practice squads for the Rams (in 2017) and Jaguars (2018) as well as preseason of 2019 with the Miami Dolphins. Dunn also played in the AAF.

He has the ability to fill in at both guard and tackle, effectively filling the role left open when Drew Forbes opted out.

To make room for Dunn on the team’s 80-man roster, the Browns waived undrafted rookie TE Nate Wieting.

M.J. Stewart: What the Browns are getting in their new CB

Scouting report and details on the Browns new slot CB

The Browns made a bit of an under-the-radar move on Saturday, claiming M.J. Stewart off waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Stewart lives up to his potential in Cleveland, the slot corner won’t be under the radar for long.

Stewart is a 5-11, 195-pound cornerback who was Tampa Bay’s second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He ran into a bit of a numbers game in Tampa Bay, which has spent significant recent draft resources on the secondary aside from Stewart.

He played in 21 games over his first two seasons, starting six. Stewart is almost exclusively a slot corner and that projects to be his path to playing time in Cleveland.

I featured Stewart as the Browns Wire “Prospect of the Day” back before the 2018 draft. The overall summary from that analysis has proven to be pretty spot-on based on his Buccaneers career,

An excellent tackler and aggressive run defender, he’s a great fit for teams who like to attack from the slot. Stewart is confident and exhibits a decent football IQ.

His lack of speed and inconsistent start to plays are real detriments.

He will need to anticipate routes better pre-snap to help mitigate his lack of long speed. Faster WRs will run away from him and Stewart doesn’t have the “chase” gear to catch up in the open field. It was even more glaring in the NFL than it was in college.

Being in the slot helps cover his lack of speed, and it also augments his value as a run defender and blitzer, an area where he thrived in college but the Bucs ignored.

In Cleveland, Stewart projects as the physical slot corner. He’s the opposite style of Kevin Johnson, the team’s other current slot CB. Stewart wins with physicality, press coverage and savvy run defense. He did miss some tackles in Tampa Bay but almost all were after the catch and not against the run. That speaks to his speed limitations and ability to play deeper down the field, which is why he’s not a lock to make the roster.

[lawrence-related id=50509]

Browns claim CB M.J. Stewart off waivers from the Buccaneers

The Cleveland Browns were busy on Saturday. In addition to activating four players, most notably Pro Bowl WR Jarvis Landry, the team also claimed cornerback M.J. Stewart off waivers from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Stewart was waived by the Buccaneers on Friday in a bit of a surprise move. The 24-year-old was a second-round pick out of North Carolina in the 2018 NFL Draft and played quite a bit as the team’s slot corner in his two seasons with Tampa Bay.

The Browns are shallow at cornerback and in particular at the slot corner position, so Stewart stands a fair chance of sticking around if he can prove himself quickly with his new team.

[lawrence-related id=50524]

Browns lost more snaps with departed players than all but 5 other teams

Browns lost more snaps with departed players than all but 5 other teams based on research from Over The Cap

Major personnel turnover is a seeming rite of passage every offseason in Cleveland. And while this year’s core group returns more intact than many other years, the Browns are still near the top of the NFL in terms of snaps lost from one year to the next.

Based on research and tracking from Over The Cap, only five other teams lost more total snaps from players no longer on the roster than the Browns did. Cleveland returns 71 percent of total snaps on offense and defense from the 2019 season. The league average is 75.5 percent.

The defense is harder hit, as would be expected for a team that said goodbye to linebacker Joe Schobert and several defensive backs (Damarius Randall, T.J. Carrie, Morgan Burnett, Juston Burris, Eric Murray, Jermaine Whitehead) who played significant roles at some point in the season. All played at least 350 snaps. Schobert led the Browns with 1,059 snaps from scrimmage, more than 100 more than any other defender.

Cleveland did mitigate some of the churning loss by importing veterans to fill the roles. Players like Karl Joseph, Andrew Sendejo, Adrian Clayborn and Andrew Billings can step right into lost snap roles on defense, while right tackle Jack Conklin and tight end Austin Hooper more than compensate for the lost reps at their positions on offense, primarily from Greg Robinson and Demetrius Harris.

The teams that lost more? From the top down: Carolina, Dallas, Seattle, New England and Detroit.

Browns officially re-sign WR Rashard Higgins, waive DT Brandin Bryant

The Browns made it official on Friday morning, re-signing wide receiver Rashard Higgins to a one-year deal. The move was reported over a week ago but finally completed after accommodations for the travel and personal contact restrictions currently in place for the coronavirus pandemic.

Higgins rejoins the Browns for a fifth season with the hopes that it will fare better than his fourth year in Cleveland. Higgins battled injuries and ex-coach Freddie Kitchens’ doghouse in a disappointing 2019 campaign that saw “Hollywood” catch just four passes in 10 games. It was a steep departure from a very promising 2018 when Higgins clicked with QB Baker Mayfield and caught 39 passes for 572 yards and four TDs.

In order to make room for Higgins on the roster, the Browns waived defensive tackle Brandin Bryant. The journeyman tackle played four games in 2019 after bouncing up and down from the practice squad. Cleveland was Bryant’s fourth NFL team in as many years and the only place where he earned any playing time.

[lawrence-related id=45584]

Report: Browns will re-sign WR Rashard Higgins to 1-year deal

Hollywood is back for a fifth season in Cleveland

One of the great offseason Cleveland debates is finally settled. The Browns will indeed bring back wide receiver Rashard Higgins for the 2020 season, per a report from Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.

Higgins was a free agent after the Browns initially showed little interest in bringing him back for another season. A prime contributor in Baker Mayfield’s rookie season in 2018 (39 catches, 572 yards, 4 TDs), Higgins fell off dramatically in 2019 due to injuries and lack of a defined role in the new offense. In 10 games he had just four receptions on 11 total targets and was a healthy scratch at points in the season.

“Hollywood” gets a chance to redeem himself in 2020 under new head coach Kevin Stefanski. The terms of the deal are not yet available but reports indicate it is a one-year contract with the Browns. Higgins, 25, has spent his entire four-year career in Cleveland.

He projects to compete for the No. 3 WR spot with 6th-round rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones and holdovers Damion Ratley, KhaDarel Hodge and Taywan Taylor.

Pharaoh Brown among 3 Browns tendered as exclusive rights free agents

Pharaoh Brown, Dontrell Hilliard and KhaDarel Hodge all tendered as ERFAs

The Cleveland Browns have issued qualifying tender offers to three of their exclusive rights free agents. In what’s more of a paperwork formality, the team locked up the trio for 2020. The Browns announced the move in conjunction with issuing a second-round tender offer to restricted free agent RB Kareem Hunt.

Tight end Pharaoh Brown, running back Dontrell Hilliard and wide receiver/special teams ace KhaDarel Hodge were all issued their tender offers prior to the deadline.

Brown caught just two passes in nine games but demonstrated some promise for a larger role. He’s a Cleveland native.

Hilliard and Hodge made their primary contributions on special teams in 2019. They figure to remain fixtures on those units more than they contribute to the base offense.

An Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA) is a player that has less than three accrued seasons in the NFL but an expired contract. They do not have the ability to negotiate deals with other teams.

Browns release starting safety Morgan Burnett

The move frees up $3.375 million in salary cap space

The biggest hole on the Cleveland Browns defense just got deeper. The Browns announced on Monday morning they have released safety Morgan Burnett. It was a widely expected roster move.

Burnett, 31, started eight games for the Browns in his one season in Cleveland. He missed half of the 2019 season with a knee injury, starting every game for which he was available. Burnett signed a 2-year, $7.5 million contract last offseason to come to Cleveland after one season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The move frees up $3.375 million in salary cap space but leaves the Browns perilously thin at safety entering free agency. Only Juston Burris and second-year Sheldrick Redwine are currently on the active roster.