North Notes: Browns, Packers, Lions, Ravens

If Hue Jackson returns as the Browns head coach in 2018, he’s likely to want more input on the club’s personnel moves, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. That’s not to say Jackson requires final say on Cleveland’s transactions, as he agreed to the current decision-making hierarchy when he accepted the Browns job. However, Jackson would “want his voice heard” alongside that of front office members Sashi Brown, Paul DePodesta, and Andrew Berry, per Rapoport. Reports of strife between the Browns’ front office and their coaching staff have been prevalent, especially relating to the club’s ongoing search for a quarterback, so Jackson would likely attempt to assert himself if continues as Cleveland’s coach next season.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:

• The Packers placed offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga on injured reserve Saturday, and now Green Bay will face a complicated decision on the veteran lineman’s future this offeason, as Ryan Wood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. While Bulaga has been an effective right tackle when healthy, he missed five games with injury in 2015 and now has two torn ACLs (one on each knee) on his record. Bulaga will be 29 years old when the 2018 season begins, and is due a $5.85MM base salary next year. If Green Bay did decide to cut ties, it would save $5.15MM on its salary cap.
• Like Bulaga, defensive end Ezekiel Ansah has dealt with injury issues this season, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be a member of the Lions in 2018, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Ansah, 28, is absent for the second straight game today as he deals with a back injury, and his decreased production will likely lead to a depressed market when he hits the free market next spring. Though an extension seemed like a formality earlier this year, a long-term deal for Ansah now seems out of the question, while the franchise tag — at a cost north of $18MM — isn’t an option, either. A one-year pillow contract in the range of $10MM could make sense for both Ansah and the Lions, as Birkett notes.
• The Ravens have demoted former first-round receiver Breshad Perriman (and made him a healthy scratch for Week 11), tweets Rapoport. Perriman has managed only seven receptions in 2017, his third NFL season, and ranks among the league’s worst wideouts through 10-plus weeks, per Football Outsiders. However, Perriman’s reduced role may only last a single week, as Baltimore wants to see how the 24-year-old pass-catcher responds, per Rapoport.