The AFC North is becoming a tough division to get into. In the wake of the Ravens-Maxx Crosby reversed trade, the Browns have decided not to sign former Bills defensive end A.J. Epenesa. The two sides came to a one-year, $5MM agreement about a week and a half ago. Per ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, the team was not “comfortable finalizing the deal after his physical.” 
The news comes as a bit of a surprise as the six-year veteran has never missed more than three games in an NFL season. While he’s only appeared in every game of a season once, Epenesa’s absences each year have, for the most part, been limited to one or two games. No injury information accompanied today’s announcement, so any specifics will have to be disclosed in future reports.
Epenesa joined the Bills as a second-round pick in 2020. Coming out of Iowa, Epenesa brought experience in a role off the bench from his time as a sophomore Hawkeye, when he registered 10.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, four batted passes, and four forced fumbles without making a single start. After putting up similar numbers as a junior year starter, Epenesa declared for the NFL draft and found his way to Buffalo.
Over the course of his rookie contract, Epenesa’s experience contributing off the bench came in handy. Entrenched behind a starting lineup that, over the years, featured Mario Addison, Jerry Hughes, Greg Rousseau, Shaq Lawson, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd, and Joey Bosa, Epenesa only saw more than two starts in one of his six seasons in Buffalo. After a slow rookie year, Epenesa began to generate more pressures with his opportunities in Year 2. Over the final two years of his rookie contract, Epenesa logged 6.5 sacks each year despite only starting two of 30 game appearances.
Epenesa’s best season came two years ago, when he was tasked with a bigger role. Appearing in every game for the only time in his career and making 13 starts, Epenesa recorded six sacks and saw career highs in tackles (39), tackles for loss (8), and quarterback hits (11), tacking on a safety, as well, for good measure. The arrival of Bosa last year pushed Epenesa back to a rotation role, and he saw his lowest pass rushing production since his first two years in the league.
Without a deal with the Browns, Epenesa will head back to the open market where several teams are still looking for pass rush help. Any future deal will depend on him passing a physical, though, so it will be interesting to see if we get any more information on what concerns caused Cleveland to back out here.
Hmmm odd. He wasn’t an injury problem in Buffalo or even hurt bad last year… something fishy going on in AFC North!!!
This would explain why he got such a small deal in the first place.
Cold feet ala Ravens
My Browns have unwittingly made it even more difficult to sign free agents in the future. Who’s going to want to sign with them now, knowing that their deal could be voided for reasons that are not clear? The Browns already had put themselves behind the eight ball regarding free agents with their consistently atrocious records; now the only reasons for a free agent to join the Browns is because they lack any other choice or the Browns drastically overpay them. All for $5M, from a team that overcommitted to Deshaun Watson to the tune of $46M/yr. Are we sure Andrew Berry went to Harvard??? Maybe Berry can make up for it by having another “great draft,” complete with drafting exactly ZERO offensive linemen, despite it being the team’s most glaring weakness (on a team with many weaknesses). What did us Browns fans EVER do to deserve the ongoing and unending misery we’ve gotten year after year for the last 30 years???
Come back to buffalo!
@ getoffmylawn
This is not the first time a deal was rescinded due to medical concerns. This happens frequently enough that this shouldn’t be a huge surprise when it does happen.
Cleveland has troubles signing free agents? They sign plenty of them. Berry does so quite often.
Yes. He is a Harvard graduate. Easy research will tell you that.
You just enjoy hating on the Browns (at least that is how it seems).