Tag: Matthew McCrane

Lions bring in another kicker to the practice squad

Lions bring in another kicker to the practice squad, signing free agent Matthew McCrane

Fresh off losing Greg Joseph to the New York Giants active roster, the Detroit Lions have added a new kicker to the team’s practice squad.

The Lions announced they signed kicker Matthew McCrane to the opening on the practice squad roster. The 30-year-old McCrane hasn’t kicked in the regular season since 2018, though he has bounced around several practice squads and training camps in the stead.

McCrane takes over for Joseph as the veteran mentor and aide to the precocious Jake Bates, who remains perfect through his first two NFL games.

Browns waive K Matthew McCrane, back down to 2 kickers

It’s now Cody Parkey and Chase McLaughlin

There are just two kickers on the Cleveland Browns roster once again. A day after unexpectedly claiming PK Chase McLaughlin off waivers from the New York Jets, the Browns have waived kicker Matthew McCrane.

It’s a one-for-one swap on the team’s 90-man roster with McLaughlin coming in and pushing McCrane out. McCrane spent nearly all of the 2020 season on the Browns’ practice squad after being signed as a free agent in September.

The team thought highly enough of McCrane to place him on the protected practice squad list, preventing other teams from poaching him away. The one-time Steelers kicker never appeared in a game for the Browns.

McLaughlin is now the challenger for veteran Cody Parkey, who finished the season strongly in his second stint in Cleveland.

Browns sign 14 players from the practice squad to reserve/futures contracts

All but one of the practice squad members from last week signed

The Browns coaching and management must have liked what they saw on the practice fields late in the year. On Monday, the Browns signed nearly all of the active practice squad roster from the week of the AFC divisional playoff round to reserve/futures contracts.

The 14 players

S Elijah Benton (Liberty)

WR Ja’Marcus Bradley (Louisiana-Lafayette)

TE Jordan Franks (Central Florida)

CB A.J. Green (Oklahoma State)

G Cordel Iwuagwu (Texas Christian)

QB Kyle Lauletta (Richmond)

DE Cameron Malveaux (Houston)

TE Kyle Markway (South Carolina)

K Matt McCrane (Kansas State)

LB Montrel Meander (Grambling State)

C Javon Patterson (Mississippi)

FB Johnny Stanton (UNLV)

T Alex Taylor (South Carolina State)

WR Derrick Willies (Texas Tech)

The only practice squad player from last week who did not sign with the team is CB Donovan Olumba, who was signed during last week.

Players signed to a reserve/future contract can be added to an NFL team’s roster when it expands from 53 to 90 players for the offseason on the first day of the NFL’s business year. That takes place on March 17. It ties them to the Browns through that period instead of them being street free agents.

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Browns practice squad protection and elevation tracker

Tracking who has been protected week by week and also the practice squad elevations for game days

The Browns have protected the same four players on the practice squad for Week 14 as they did in Week 13. And Week 12.

So rather than just regurgitate the protection status for the third week in a row, I thought we’d go back and look at how the Browns have used the protected practice squad status this year. The practice squad elevations for game day are also tracked here. Each player can be elevated from the practice squad to the active gameday roster twice, though players elevated as designated COVID-19 replacements can be used more than just twice.

Week 1

Protected

  • QB Garrett Gilbert
  • S Jovante Moffatt
  • PK Cody Parkey
  • OT Greg Senat

Elevated – CB Robert Jackson

Week 2

Protected

  • QB Garrett Gilbert
  • OT Greg Senat

Elevated – LB Montrel Meander

Week 3 

Protected

  • QB Garrett Gilbert
  • OT Greg Senat
  • RB Dontrell Hilliard
  • PK Matt McCrane

Elevated – CB A.J. Green

Week 4

Protected

  • Garrett Gilbert
  • Greg Senat
  • Matt McCrane
  • DL Joey Ivie

Week 5

The Cowboys signed Senat in the period before he could be protected this week.

Protected

  • Garrett Gilbert
  • Matt McCrane
  • Joey Ivie

Elevated – Joey Ivie

Week 6

The Cowboys struck again, signing Gilbert away in the period before players could be protected.

Protected

  • S Elijah Benton
  • DT Joey Ivie
  • RB John Kelly
  • PK Matt McCrane

Elevated – Elijah Benton

Week 7

There was no record of the Browns protecting any players in Week 7

Week 8

Protected

  • RB John Kelly
  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • DE Cameron Malveaux
  • PK Matthew McCrane

Week 9

Protected

  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • DE Cameron Malveaux
  • PK Matt McCrane
  • OT Alex Taylor

Elevated – OT Michael Dunn

Week 11

Protected

  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • DE Cameron Malveaux
  • PK Matt McCrane
  • OT Alex Taylor

Elevated as COVID-19 replacements – Dunn and Malveaux

Elevated – FB Johnny Stanton

Week 12

Protected

  • OT Michael Dunn
  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • PK Matt McCrane
  • OT Alex Taylor

Elevated as COVID-19 replacement – Dunn, Ivie, Malveaux

Week 13 

Protected

  • OT Michael Dunn
  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • PK Matt McCrane
  • OT Alex Taylor

Elevated – WR Ja’Marcus Bradley

Week 14

Protected

  • OT Michael Dunn
  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • PK Matt McCrane
  • OT Alex Taylor

 

 

 

Browns protect some new faces on the practice squad

The 4 players cannot be signed by another team until Monday

The Browns got back to protecting the full allotment of four players on the team’s practice squad in advance of Week 8. After losing a couple of players who were previously protected in prior weeks, keeping any players from getting poached off the practice squad is a good idea for Cleveland.

This week the Browns protected two familiar names and two new ones:

  • RB John Kelly
  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • DE Cameron Malveaux
  • PK Matthew McCrane

McCrane and Kelly have been protected before. Malveaux and Lauletta have been newer additions to the practice squad. Lauletta is the team’s No. 3 quarterback after the team lost Garrett Gilbert to the Cowboys two weeks ago.

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Browns continue practice squad protection for Garrett Gilbert, Greg Senat

Gilbert and OT Greg Senat have been protected all three weeks

For the third week in a row, Garrett Gilbert has been one of the four protected practice squad players for the Cleveland Browns. Protecting the third-string QB from getting signed away by another team remains a priority for coach Kevin Stefanski and his Browns staff.

Gilbert has been on the 4-man protected list all three weeks. So has offensive tackle Greg Senat, who was signed just before Week 1.

This week they are joined by new practice squad kicker Matthew McCrane and running back Dontrell Hilliard. McCrane was just signed to the Browns’ practice squad on Tuesday and was almost immediately placed on the protected list. Cody Parkey was protected prior to Week 1 before usurping the starting PK role from ineffective Austin Seibert for Week 2.

Browns sign DE Jalen Jelks, PK Matthew McCrane to practice squad

To make room the Browns released DT Tanzel Smart from the practice squad

Two of the players who worked out for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday officially joined the team’s practice squad on Tuesday. Following their clearance of the COVID-19 protocols, the team added DE Jalen Jelks and PK Matthew McCrane to the practice squad.

Jelks is in his second year out of Oregon. As a seventh-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys, the long-limbed (6-5/256) Jelks spent his rookie campaign on Dallas’ injured reserve. He was most recently with the Carolina Panthers. Jelks has yet to appear in an NFL game.

McCrane is in his third NFL season, and the Browns are his fourth team in that span. The Kansas State product played with the Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers as a rookie in 2018. McCrane made eight of 12 field goals as well as all nine extra points he attempted.

The Browns had one vacant spot on the 16-man practice squad. To make room for another, Cleveland released DT Tanzel Smart.