Tag: Cleveland Browns practice squad

Browns bring CB Thomas Graham Jr. back, sign him to practice squad

Thomas Graham Jr. is coming back to the Browns as he has signed to their practice squad

The Cleveland Browns will not even let you finish your coffee before coming down with news. This time, the Browns have signed cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. to their practice squad after cutting him from their active roster earlier this week.

Making room for the likes of cornerback Greedy Williams and linebacker Deion Jones to potentially return to the 53-man roster from the Injured Reserve, cuts had to be made somewhere. Graham found himself on the end of a business move, but gets the opportunity to stay with the team and prove his worth to the Browns.

Playing a good deal of special teams with the Browns, Graham could always see himself as a gameday elevation to play on special teams.

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Browns bring S Richard LeCounte III back on practice squad

After cutting him earlier this week, the Browns are bringing safety Richard LeCounte III back on the practice squad

Earlier this week, the Cleveland Browns cut second-year safety Richard LeCounte III after claiming and bringing back offensive lineman Drew Forbes off of waivers. LeCounte III became the first draft pick of general manager Andrew Berry’s reign that he has cut.

And now after clearing waivers and going unclaimed, LeCounte III is coming back to the Browns on the practice squad. The Browns have been busy making roster moves today, as they also designated cornerback Greedy Williams for return off of the Injured Reserve.

The Browns have had a ton of movement on their practice squad over the past couple of weeks, with LeCounte III being just the latest move.

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Browns add preseason star Sam Kamara to practice squad

The Browns add Sam Kamara to their practice squad after signing three to their active roster last week.

After a great deal of movement up and down the practice squad due to injuries, the Cleveland Browns are finally filling an open slot. They have been forced to sign defenders Jordan Kunaszyk and Isaac Rochell to the active roster, and now add preseason standout Sam Kamara to the practice squad.

The former undrafted free agent out of Stony Brook was responsible for 14 total pressures in three preseason games with the Chicago Bears this past preseason. Hopefully Kamara never has to find his way to the active roster, but having depth along the interior cannot hurt a team that is beaten up inside.

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Browns sign 8 players to future/reserves contracts

The Cleveland Browns sign 8 practice squad players to future/reserves contracts

One of the first orders of business for NFL teams in the offseason is to handle the players who ended the season on the practice squad. Those players are not technically under contract to the team any longer.

For the practice squad players or street free agents the Cleveland Browns and other teams wish to keep around to at least start the 2022 offseason, they can sign reserve/future contracts. They are effectively commitments by the team to bring the players back with a chance to compete for spots in the coming season.

Cleveland signed eight of those to reserve/future contracts on Monday:

TE Miller Forristall

OG Hjalte Froholdt

TE Nick Guggemos

CB Nate Meadors

OG David Moore

FB Johnny Stanton

OT Alex Taylor

DE Curtis Weaver

All will be welcomed back to Cleveland once the offseason activities kick off later this winter.

Browns activate 2 from IR, waive Andrew Billings in flurry of roster moves

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and M.J. Stewart are back, while Andrew Billings hits the waiver wire

The Cleveland Browns kept the recording secretary at the NFL’s transaction wire busy on Saturday. The Browns activated two players from injured reserve and waived DT Andrew Billings in the flurry of activity.

Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and cornerback M.J. Stewart have rejoined the active 53-man roster from the team’s IR. Both had been designated to return earlier by Cleveland and are now healthy enough to help the team.

To make room for Owusu-Koramoah and Stewart, the Browns waived veteran DT Andrew Billings. The other spot was still open from the departure of WR Odell Beckham Jr. earlier in the week.

Cleveland also elevated four players from the practice squad to help cover for the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak afflicting the team. Those elevated:

RB Brian Hill

CB Herb Miller

WR Jojo Natson

FB Johnny Stanton

Hill is designated a standard elevation, while the other three are COVID-19 promotions that will not count against the number of times they can be elevated. Hill just recently joined the Browns and now could be in line to get legit carries with three RBs all sidelined on the COVID-19 list.

Billings will be subject to waiver claims. He played just 72 snaps in six games and recorded one tackle.

Browns sign Alex Taylor from practice squad among several roster moves

Taylor is back on the active 53-man roster and he’s joined by a pair of practice squad elevations

Facing a rash of injuries heading into Sunday’s visit from the Arizona Cardinals, the Cleveland Browns bolstered the roster with some personnel moves on Saturday.

The most notable move is signing offensive tackle Alex Taylor from the practice squad to the active 53-man roster. Taylor rejoined the Browns practice squad after a stint with the Bears on Chicago’s practice squad this season. The 6-foot-8 Taylor spent 2020 with the Browns as an undrafted rookie out of South Carolina State, playing in one game.

Taylor will help as insurance for the Browns at tackle, where starters Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin are among 10 players questionable for the Week 6 game. Regular backup tackle Chris Hubbard went on injured reserve this week.

The Browns also elevated two players from the practice squad for Sunday. Defensive lineman Sheldon Day and cornerback Herb Miller received the standard elevation to help with potential depth issues. Day stood out in the preseason and has several years of NFL experience. Both Day and Miller will revert to the practice squad after the game.

Cleveland also waived tight end Connor Davis from the team’s injured reserve list.

One move the team didn’t make: Jarvis Landry remains on the IR. He will not be activated for Week 6 despite being designated for return earlier in the week and practicing with the team.

Report: Browns will sign QB Nick Mullens to the practice squad

Mullens has 16 games of NFL starting experience and was waived by the Eagles after preseason

The final 53-man roster isn’t set yet for the Cleveland Browns, but the team is already addressing the practice squad. Per a report from Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, the Browns are expected to sign quarterback Nick Mullens to the practice squad.

Mullens was recently waived by the Philadelphia Eagles, but he’s better known for his starting experience with the San Francisco 49ers. He started eight games in both 2018 and 2020 for the 49ers as an injury fill-in for Jimmy Garoppolo. He has a career completion rate of 64.5 percent, throwing 25 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.

No players can sign to the practice squad before Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. Mullens went unclaimed in waivers so he will be free to sign wherever he chooses.

Mullens will take the de facto spot of the No. 3 quarterback. The Browns are not expected to bring back Kyle Lauletta, who was cut on Monday.

Browns sign practice squad TE Kyle Markway to a 2-year contract

Markway was elevated from the practice squad for the divisional round game

Per his agent, Brett Tessler, the Cleveland Browns have signed tight end Kyle Markway to a two-year contract to stay with the team.

It’s the first move of the offseason for the Browns after falling in the AFC divisional round. Markway was on the active roster for the game in Kansas City as a practice squad elevation, but the tight end was on the inactive player list. He did not see any action for the Browns beyond the practice field.

Markway joined the Browns in September as a free agent. He spent the rest of the 2020 season on the team’s practice squad. The South Carolina product was an undrafted free agent in 2019 who spent his rookie year on the New York Giants practice squad, with a stint in Pittsburgh as well.

Expect more of these types of signings with the season now complete.

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Browns elevate 2 from practice squad for AFC divisional round game

Both are standard elevations with nobody sidelined due to COVID-19

The Cleveland Browns elevated two offensive players from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday’s AFC divisional round game in Kansas City. Offensive tackle Alex Taylor and tight end Kyle Markway were elevated to face the Chiefs.

Both Taylor and Markway are standard elevations from the practice squad. In recent weeks the Browns have used the COVID-19 elevation, which is different. With all the Browns players off the reserve/COVID-19 list after left guard Joel Bitonio was activated on Friday, there is no need for those this week.

The elevations come at positions where the Browns have some injury concerns. Right tackle Jack Conklin is questionable with a knee/hamstring injury, and normal backup tackle Chris Hubbard is on injured reserve. That leaves only Kendall Lamm in reserve prior to elevating Taylor. Two tight ends, David Njoku and Stephen Carlson, are also questionable for Sunday’s game.

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Browns elevate 3 players from the practice squad to the active roster

A..J. Green designated as a COVID-19 replacement is not a good sign for Denzel Ward

The Browns were busy getting the dilapidated roster back up as strong as possible for Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh. Aside from activating three players from the reserve/COVID-19 list, the team also elevated three players from the practice squad to the active roster for the wild-card game against the Steelers.

WR Ja’Marcus Bradley, CB A.J. Green and OT Alex Taylor were all elevated on Saturday. Green was designated as a COVID-19 replacement, while Taylor and Bradley were deemed standard elevations.

That doesn’t seem like good news for Denzel Ward to play. Ward is the only cornerback on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and the protocols for elevation dictate a player designated as a COVID-19 replacement must directly fill a hole created by someone on the reserve list.

There was some additional good news. Safety Jovante Moffatt was cleared from being a close contact to an infected person and was reactivated.

In addition to the elevations, the Browns also released DL Joey Ivie from the practice squad.