Greedy Williams recently returned to the lineup for the Browns, and rival teams are starting to look into his availability. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes that the Browns have “received multiple calls” on the cornerback. However, the reporter cautions that nothing is imminent.
Per Fowler, the Browns could consider moving on from a handful of veterans following a 2-5 start to the season, including four consecutive losses. While the front office could prioritize a strong roster in anticipation of Deshaun Watson‘s eventual return, the team is eyeing tough upcoming matchups against the Bengals, Dolphins, and Bills. Ultimately, it could be in Cleveland’s best interest to focus on next season.
Williams suffered a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve in September. He returned to the lineup in Week 6, collecting one tackle while appearing in about half of his team’s defensive snaps. He saw a smaller role in Week 7, getting into only 14 percent of the defense’s snaps. Williams will continue to see a role for the time being, but he might take a backseat once Denzel Ward returns and joins Greg Newsome II and Martin Emerson Jr. in the lineup.
After missing the entire 2020 season with a shoulder injury, Williams started eight of his 16 games for Cleveland in 2021. In his 28 appearances heading into this season, the former second-round pick collected 88 tackles and a pair of interceptions.
The Browns had turned to Phillips, a third-round pick in 2020, as a full-time player in the wake of Walker’s injury. Phillips played every Browns defensive snap from Weeks 4-6, but this marks another major injury for the former LSU Tiger. He missed much of last season because of a biceps tear.
Cleveland will turn to another LSU alum now. The team’s recent trade forDeion Jones was designed at giving the former Falcon a key role once he sufficiently acclimated himself in Joe Woods‘ defense. After spending the first six weeks of the season on IR and playing 52% of Cleveland’s defensive snaps in Week 7, Jones will be needed as a full-timer alongside Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Jones, 28 next week, fell out of favor in Atlanta but has 83 career starts on his resume. The Browns’ Monday-night game against the Bengals will likely be No. 84.
Phillips, 23, who debuted at LSU in 2017, did not overlap at the SEC school with Jones — a 2016 second-round pick. Phillips started Sunday’s game in Baltimore and made seven solo tackles, giving him 46 for the season. He added two sacks — against the Steelers and Chargers — during his run replacing Walker as well. Phillips’ rookie contract runs through 2023.
Additionally, the Browns are set to be without David Njoku for a stretch. The sixth-year tight end sustained a high ankle sprain, Cabot adds. The recently extended pass catcher is set for a two- to five-week recovery timetable. Njoku, 26, left M&T Bank Stadium on crutches Sunday. This will interrupt the former first-rounder’s career-best pace. Njoku, who caught seven passes for 71 yards against the Ravens, had totaled 418 yards this season. His career-high (639) came back in 2018.
The Browns extended Njoku on a five-year, $54.75MM deal weeks after franchise-tagging him. While the 2017 draftee had not offered much consistency in Cleveland, the team is banking on him making a mid-career leap during Deshaun Watson‘s run at quarterback. Njoku was rewarding the team’s faith thus far; his 34 receptions tie Amari Cooper for most on the team. By the time Njoku returns, Watson may be at the helm.
Deion Jones is set to make his Browns debut tomorrow. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports (on Twitter), the linebacker has been activated from injured reserve. The team has also promoted linebacker Dakota Allen and cornerback Herb Miller from the practice squad, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (on Twitter).
Jones was acquired from Atlanta earlier this month despite sitting on injured reserve. He was soon designated for return, allowing him to practice with his new squad for more than a week. The linebacker underwent shoulder surgery back in May, a move that ended up temporarily halting trade talks. While his salary was apparently a concern for some suitors, Jones and Cleveland later agreed to a reworked contract that will make the veteran a free agent at the end of the season.
The linebacker spent the first six seasons of his career in Atlanta, including a 2021 campaign where he collected 137 tackles. The Browns lost veteran linebacker starter Anthony Walker for the season in Week 3, leaving a major hole on their defense. Jacob Phillips has since found himself with a starting gig, and it’ll be interesting to see if he supplants usual starter Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah with Jones in the lineup.
Allen has spent the majority of the 2022 season on Cleveland’s practice squad, although he’s been active for a pair of games. The linebacker got into 14 games with the Jaguars last season, collecting nine tackles. Miller has seen time in 11 games for Cleveland over the past two years, including two this year.
A bit of a controversy developed in Pittsburgh this week. Mitch Trubisky and Diontae Johnson engaged in a shouting match during halftime of the Steelers-Jets contest, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes, adding that this provided the impetus for Trubisky’s benching. Mike Tomlin did not confirm or deny a shouting match between the quarterback and the team’s highest-paid wideout ensued, though Johnson essentially confirmed a football-related argument took place. But The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly adds the dispute was not the deciding factor in the 16th-year coach moving to Kenny Pickett for the second half of that game. Johnson wanted more targets from Trubisky in that Week 4 game, Dulac adds, leading to the team’s original starter standing up to the fourth-year receiver.
Tomlin benched Trubisky primarily due to his underwhelming performance during the season’s first month, with Kaboly adding he had already decided to go with Pickett. Trubisky sat throughout Week 5 but played well when reinserted into Pittsburgh’s lineup following Pickett’s Week 6 concussion. Despite a bounce-back relief effort against the Buccaneers, Trubisky is set to return to the bench. Pickett cleared concussion protocol Friday and is in line to start against the Dolphins, Tomlin said. Levi Wallaceand Pat Freiermuth also cleared the protocol, arming the Steelers with key starters.
Here is the latest from the AFC North:
It looks likely Deion Jones will make his Browns debut Sunday. The team held off from activating the recently acquired linebacker from IR last week, giving the longtime Falcons starter more time after designating him for return. Jones is progressing fast in Joe Woods‘ defense, per linebackers coach Jason Tarver (via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, on Twitter). Tarver said Jones could be in position to wear the green dot, signifying headset communication, in the near future. The Browns, who lost Anthony Walker to a season-ending injury in Week 3, acquired the six-year Atlanta cog for merely a 2024 pick swap.
Cleveland will be without multiple Pro Bowlers against Baltimore, however. The Browns ruled out Wyatt Teller and Denzel Ward for their divisional matchup. Teller is battling a calf strain, while Ward will miss a second consecutive game due to a concussion he suffered in Week 5.
Ben Powers has operated as the Ravens‘ left guard this season, winning a training camp competition. While 2021 third-round pick Ben Cleveland was nominally in that battle, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic notes the younger Ben in this matchup did not mount a serious push at winning the job opposite Kevin Zeitler. The Ravens have been frustrated with Cleveland’s inability to practice consistently due to injuries, Zrebiec adds. Cleveland missed the first week of training camp due to a failed conditioning test and has missed the past two games due to a foot injury. The Ravens did see Cleveland return to practice Thursday. Cleveland, who started four games last season, has not played an offensive snap this year. Baltimore was holding a three-player competition for the job Powers won. The third entrant, Tyre Phillips, is now with the Giants.
Particularly in the NFC, the early part of this season has brought considerable parity. Many would-be contenders have stumbled out of the blocks. Two 2-4 NFC squads — the Cardinals and Saints — will match up tonight in a game that will put the loser in an early-season bind.
A 2-4 start does not bring the historic uphill battle 0-3 does. Since the playoffs expanded to six teams per conference in 1990, four squads — including the 49ers last season and the 2019 Titans — have rebounded from that record to reach the conference championship round. The 1993 Oilers crafted a more remarkable pivot, rallying to earn a bye. No 2-4 team has ever reached a Super Bowl, however.
The Broncos are probably the most disappointing of the 2-4 lot. Their Russell Wilson–Nathaniel Hackett marriage has produced a spree of listless outings, leading to social media backlash and big-picture questions. Denver’s offense ranks 32nd in scoring and has particularly struggled coming out of halftime. The Broncos’ offense has accounted for three third-quarter points all season, turning up the heat on Hackett, who joined Kevin O’Connell and Dan Quinnas Broncos HC finalists.
This staggering unproductivity has marginalized a dominant defense, one that has seen 2021 draftees Patrick Surtain II and Baron Browning — after an offseason position change — take second-year leaps. Denver has the 18th-toughest schedule remaining, per Tankathon, though the team has both Chiefs contests still to come. As injuries mount for the once-promising team, its road to the playoffs appears difficult.
Cleveland and Pittsburgh join Denver at 2-4 but are just one game back of the AFC North lead. The Browns’ controversial Deshaun Watson acquisition led most to temper expectations for this season, with Watson banned 11 games. Cleveland also enjoyed a favorable early-season schedule, but the Jacoby Brissett-led team is 1-3 in games in which it has been favored. The Browns (10th-easiest remaining schedule, record-wise) brought back Jadeveon Clowney this offseason and have Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward on top-market contracts. Both Garrett and Ward have missed time, and Joe Woods‘ defense ranks 30th. Although the Browns have hoarded cap space — likely because of Watson’s contract — their quarterback-in-waiting’s cap number spikes from $9.4MM to $54.9MM from 2022 to ’23, placing a bit more emphasis on this season’s result.
The Steelers (11th-easiest remaining schedule) upset the Buccaneers despite most of their secondary joining T.J. Watt in missing Week 6, but the team is making a transition at quarterback. The Steelers’ Mitch Trubisky acquisition, his Week 6 rally notwithstanding, did plenty to create the early-season hole. Kenny Pickett figures to make the bulk of the starts the rest of the way for a team that has not finished under .500 since 2003.
Initial Jaguars optimism has faded somewhat, after a three-game skid. Trevor Lawrence has climbed to 13th in QBR, from 28th as a rookie, and Travis Etienne‘s health is starting to pay dividends. The front-seven investments the Jags made this year have led to improved talent defensively; Mike Caldwell‘s unit ranks ninth in points allowed. Jacksonville (13th-toughest remaining schedule) also plays in a division featuring winning teams with major questions, though its perennial struggles against presumptive non-threat Houston indicates Doug Pederson‘s team may be at least a year away from contending.
Aside from the Broncos, the Raiders (minus-5 in point differential) are probably the most interesting team here. Las Vegas’ new regime paid up for Davante Adams and extended prior-regime investmentsDerek Carr, Darren Waller and Maxx Crosby. Those moves have thus far led to close losses. The Raiders (ninth-easiest remaining schedule) are 1-4, with their Patrick Graham-coordinated defense ranking 28th. The AFC West does not appear as menacing as initially projected, and 1-4 is not the death sentence 0-3 is historically. But this Raiders retooling effort will need multiple offseasons, the next one including (presumably) a first-round pick.
Rallies against the Falcons and Raiders, respectively, lifted the Saints and Cardinals to 2-4. Both teams are also just one game out in their parity-fueled divisions.
Arizona’s three-extension offseason (Kyler Murray, Kliff Kingsbury, Steve Keim) has not instilled much confidence this will be the year the Murray-led operation becomes a serious threat. Arizona (15th-toughest remaining schedule) ranks 22nd both offensively and defensively, and its DeAndre Hopkins-less receiving corps led to numerous pass-catching combinations. The team has traded for both Marquise Brown and Robbie Anderson, but the Hopkins sidekicks will not share the field together for a while due to Brown’s injury. Kingsbury is already considering ceding play-calling duties.
The Saints (seventh-easiest remaining schedule) have again run into receiver staffing issues. Jarvis Landry has missed most of the season, and Michael Thomas‘ foot injury will lead to Thursday being the former All-Pro’s 29th missed game since 2020. Jameis Winston‘s back fractures have turned Andy Dalton into New Orleans’ regular starter. While the Dalton investment (one year, $3MM) has proven important, Dennis Allen‘s defense — a top-five unit in each of the past two seasons — ranks 29th.
Do any of the other sub-.500 teams — most of which residing in the rebuilding sect — have a chance to rebound this season? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on this year’s collection of struggling teams in the comments section.
Designated for return last week, Deion Jones is expected to make his Browns debut against the Ravens in Week 7. That will now be the start of a contract year for the veteran linebacker.
Following his Atlanta-to-Cleveland trade, Jones agreed to remove the 2023 season from his contract, Field Yates of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). Jones entered the season on his 2019 Falcons extension — a four-year, $57MM deal — that ran through 2023, but this is now his walk year.
Jones was due a nonguaranteed $11.99MM in 2023. The six-year starter will attempt to rebuild his value toward a third NFL contract. The Browns are now attached to less than $1MM in Jones payments; Jones’ September restructure reduced his 2022 base salary to $1.14MM. But Cleveland also will have some questions at linebacker beyond 2022. Two-year starter Anthony Walker is also a free agent, after having signed another one-year deal this offseason.
Although Jones started throughout the 2021 season in Dean Pees‘ defense, the Falcons’ offseason moves and the steady trade buzz surrounding the former second-round pick revealed he was falling out of favor with the new regime. The Falcons, who used Jones and Foyesade Oluokun as their primary off-ball ‘backers last season, have now moved on from both this year. They are still tied to considerable Jones dead money ($11.36MM this year and $12.14MM in 2023), but the Matt Ryan trade — which brought a record $40MM in dead money — showed Atlanta’s current regime is not hesitating regarding cap penalties.
Jones will turn 28 next month. This trade, a 2024 pick swap, has shown a value drop compared to where the LSU alum’s stock resided in 2019. The second half of this Browns season provides a window for the 83-game starter to rebuild it.
A few younger off-ball ‘backers are poised for free agency in 2023 as well. Tremaine Edmunds and Roquan Smith may not both hit the market, but they are eligible to do so as of now. Lavonte David‘s third Buccaneers contract is up after 2022, while Denzel Perryman is also tied to an expiring deal. The Raiders have discussed an extension with the eighth-year defender, however. It will be interesting if Jones and the Browns huddle up about a potential re-up at some point before his deal expires in March.
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