NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/30/18
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: DE Vontarrius Dora, OL Kyle Friend
- Released: DE Ufomba Kamalu, K Matt McCrane
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: LB Xavier Woodson-Luster
- Released: LB Brady Sheldon
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: TE Ethan Wolf
Houston Texans
- Signed: WR Steven Mitchell
- Released: WR Cyril Grayson
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: DB Maurice Smith
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: OG Landon Turner
New York Jets
- Signed: CB Juston Burris
Oakland Raiders
- Signed: OT Jamar McGloster
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: TE Tyrone Swoopes
- Released: OL JJ Dielman
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: RB Dare Ogunbowale
Browns Fallout: Jackson, Staff, Mayfield
In firing Hue Jackson and Todd Haley, the Browns axed the top two voices behind their offense on Monday. This came after reports of friction between the two, accounts that turned out to be very real and ones that could’ve been envisioned for anyone who saw Hard Knocks.
“The message today is we’re not going to put up with internal discord,” owner Jimmy Haslam said, via Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com. “… We had some concerns going into the game, obviously (Sunday’s) performance was disappointing. We had several of our key people involved in this conversations last night and this morning and did what we think’s best for the organization.”
Haslam said he met with John Dorsey on Sunday night, and actions came down Monday morning. Although Jackson went 1-31 in his first two seasons with the team, Haslam opted to give him a third year because the aggressive rebuild — put forth by former GM Sashi Brown — put Jackson in a “difficult spot” (Twitter link via Cabot). Gregg Williams was the only person the Browns considered to be the interim HC, Haslam said (per Nate Ulrich of ohio.com, on Twitter).
Some Browns began to question Jackson’s credibility, as a result of the third-year HC following through on his intent to give Haley autonomy to run the offense, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. After running the offense in 2016 and ’17, Jackson wasn’t nearly as involved this season. Jackson, in turn, was frustrated Haley would “do his own thing,” Breer adds. Jackson’s message grew stale as the losses mounted, per Yahoo’s Terez Paylor. This is obviously not uncommon for teams in losing situations, and that descriptor might not be strong enough to describe the state of the Browns under Haslam. The seventh-year owner’s now fired four head coaches, and the Browns have won more than five games just once under his watch.
Baker Mayfield‘s development shifts to front and center, and Breer notes the Jackson firing probably won’t bother the rookie quarterback much. They didn’t exactly see eye to eye, per Breer. Though, the No. 1 overall pick now has to finish a season without a proven offensive voice in the building and will have to learn a new offense in 2019.
Williams is technically still defensive coordinator, in addition to becoming a first-time head coach at age 60. But some around the league believe he will promote his son, Blake Williams, to that post, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Blake Williams has been Cleveland’s linebackers coach for two seasons.
As far as a possible Jackson/Williams successor, Breer points out Dorsey has “the highest respect” for what Iowa State coach Matt Campbell‘s done. Campbell, 38, is from the Cleveland area (Massillon, Ohio) as well. While Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley may well get a look, since he’d be a natural fit given his mentoring of Mayfield with the Sooners, he doesn’t envision leaving Oklahoma (video link). Gregg Williams will also be a candidate for the full-time job, Haslam said (via Cabot, on Twitter). But such a scenario would be hard to envision.
Browns Work Out Junior Galette
Amid the upheaval in Cleveland today, the Browns are continuing with their scheduled workouts. They hosted free agent pass rusher Junior Galette for a Monday audition, Sirius XM Radio’s Adam Caplan tweets.
Galette’s been a free agent since his Washington contract expired after last season. He turned down a chance to reunite with the Redskins and has expressed regret for doing so. Since, the 30-year-old edge defender has met with the Rams and Colts.
New Browns HC Gregg Williams has a history with Galette. Williams was with the Saints when they added Galette as a UDFA in 2010 and coached him for two seasons before his ignominious New Orleans exit. Galette was a backup with the Saints during Williams’ final two years as their DC but went on to star for future New Orleans defenses.
After missing all of the 2015 and ’16 seasons due to injuries, Galette played in all 16 Redskins games last season. He registered three sacks. Behind starting defensive ends Myles Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah, the Browns have rookie Chad Thomas and veterans Anthony Zettel and Chris Smith.
Browns Promote Gregg Williams To HC
The Browns have named defensive coordinator Gregg Williams as their new interim head coach, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (on Twitter). Meanwhile, Freddie Kitchens has been promoted from assistant to interim offensive coordinator, as Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com tweets.
Williams, 60, has been an NFL coach since joining the Houston Oilers’ staff in 1990. Since then, he has held several defensive coordinator positions, and also served as the Bills’ head coach from 2001-2003. Williams’ Bills teams went 3-13, 8-8, and 6-10 in each of those seasons, resulting in a 17-31 record overall. That .354 mark is far from ideal, but it beats Hue Jackson‘s lifetime 11-44-1 mark (.205).
Kitchens began his coaching career in the college ranks before signing on as the Cowboys’ tight ends coach in 2006. After a ten-year run with the Cardinals, he became the Browns’ running backs coach/associate head coach earlier this year.
On Monday morning, the Browns dropped a pair of bombs on the football world. First, Hue Jackson was told to pack his bags. Moments later, we learned that offensive coordinator Todd Haley was also handed a pink slip. Ultimately, the infighting between the two men left Browns brass with a sour taste and cost both of them their jobs.
“We greatly appreciate Hue’s commitment to the Cleveland Browns organization over the last two and a half years,” the Haslams said in a joint statement. “We understand how critical this time period is in the development of our football team, individually and collectively, and believed it was in the organization’s best interest to make the move at this time, in order to maximize our opportunities the rest of this season. We certainly only wish Hue, Michelle, and his family the best moving forward.”
While the Browns have struggled this year, the defense has been largely solid under Williams’ guidance. The Browns lead the league with 22 takeaways this season and Williams will now be charged with injecting some life into the offense as well.
Browns Fire OC Todd Haley
Hue Jackson isn’t the only one cleaning out his office in Cleveland. The Browns have also fired offensive coordinator Todd Haley, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Browns Fire Hue Jackson]
Initially, when Jackson was fired, it sounded as though Browns ownership had chosen Haley over Jackson in the wake of their rift. As it turns out, both men have been told to pack their bags.
Haley delivered results as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, but his brash personality has been both a positive and a negative throughout his career. In Cleveland, his approach clearly did not jibe with Jackson, and his results did not inspire confidence among the Browns’ decision makers. This year, the Browns have averaged 342.4 yards per game, good for just 24th in the league. Meanwhile, their 65 offensive penalties (2nd highest in the NFL) have cost them 511 yards.
To replace Haley, the Browns have promoted assistant Freddie Kitchens to the interim OC role. Meanwhile, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was promoted to head coach, replacing Jackson.
Browns Fire Hue Jackson
The Browns fired head coach Hue Jackson, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) reports. The decision comes one day after the Browns lost to the rival Steelers, dropping their record to 2-5-1 on the year. 
[RELATED: Browns Fire OC Todd Haley]
Jackson has gone 3-36-1 as the Browns’ head coach, so his dismissal seemed like an inevitability. New GM John Dorsey (perhaps with some pressure from ownership) gave Jackson a reprieve upon taking over, but the Browns have not been able to capitalize on their stockpile of talent under Jackson’s guidance this year.
It’s possible that Jackson’s rift with offensive coordinator Todd Haley played a role in his midseason dismissal. Their issues were very apparent during the “Hard Knocks” miniseries and, recently, Jackson pushed for more involvement in offensive decision-making.
Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was promoted to head coach on Monday afternoon, replacing Jackson. Meanwhile, the Browns promoted assistant Freddie Kitchens to the interim OC role to take over for Haley.
Dorsey, owner Jimmy Haslam, and other “power brokers” within the organization met on Monday morning to determine the best course of action going forward, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link) hears. At first, it sounded like the team opted to fire Jackson and stick with Haley. Instead, they got rid of both men.
It sounds like we can count Baker Mayfield among those that are in favor of the change. Rapoport (Twitter link) hears the rookie quarterback is not going to miss the 53-year-old coach.
A fun fact from Schefter (on Twitter): the last six Browns head coaches – Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Pat Shurmur, Rod Chudzinski, Mike Pettine, and Jackson – were fired after the second Steelers game of that season.
Jackson had two years remaining on his contract, so the Browns are contractually obligated to pay him through 2019 season. His salary may be offset by another job, however.
Latest On Browns’ Coaching Staff
As the Browns continue to rack up losses, there’s been more and more discussion about possible changes to the coaching staff. Things really started to heat up after last week’s game, when coach Hue Jackson publicly questioned offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Jackson and Haley have done their best to downplay the feud, but it’s clear there’s some dysfunction there. Ian Rapoport vaguely hinted at possible changes that could be coming soon before the team’s loss to the Steelers today, and now we have even more details.
It’s quite possible we see the “firing of offensive coordinator Todd Haley and/or head coach Hue Jackson, if the team continues to lose games” sources told Pat McManamon and Dan Graziano of ESPN. “Jackson and Haley have been at odds, and their respect for each other is not good enough for the team to be successful” a source said.
The source also added that “any decision the team makes would be with [Baker] Mayfield and his development as the highest priority” and that “it’s hard to know which way Browns ownership would lean if it had to choose between Jackson and Haley.” It’ll be interesting to see who wins the power struggle between Jackson and Haley, and right now it seems totally up in the air.
While the two clearly don’t get along, Jackson would have to go owner Jimmy Halsam in order to get Haley fired, and “Jackson has not yet brought it up” to the Haslam’s, according to McManamon and Graziano. The article makes it clear that GM John Dorsey’s primary concern is not harming Baker Mayfield, and he could ultimately decide that any in-season coaching change would be bad for Mayfield’s development. There could be changes as early as this week, so stay tuned.
Browns Open To Trading Tyrod Taylor; Team Trying To Acquire WR Help?
- Breer also writes that the Browns are open to trading Tyrod Taylor, whose contract structure could make a deal feasible. Meanwhile, Tony Grossi of ESPN.com suggests that Cleveland GM John Dorsey may be trying to acquire wide receiver help (Twitter link).
Latest On Hue Jackson, Todd Haley
Browns head coach Hue Jackson created plenty of waves earlier this week when he suggested that he may take over play-calling duties from OC Todd Haley. And while Jackson quickly walked back those comments, he may have done serious damage to his chances of remaining in Cleveland.
Albert Breer of TheMMQB, who appeared on 92.3 The Fan on Wednesday, said, “I don’t think that [Jackson’s] comments went over all that well in certain corners of the building” (audio link). Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports agrees, going so far as to say that Jackson’s comments “flabbergasted and confounded” his coaching staff and players. Breer noted that team owner Jimmy Haslam and GM John Dorsey are prioritizing the development of No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, and they are not very receptive to anything that may stunt his growth as a player. Although Cleveland’s offense has not been particularly good overall, Mayfield has shown enough flashes of brilliance to suggest that he can ultimately live up to his draft status.
Breer tweets that nothing has changed in the team’s offensive meetings rooms over the last week, so Haley is still running the show for now. However, Breer concedes that what happens after the team’s divisional contest against Pittsburgh this afternoon is uncertain, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes that change could be coming soon. Rapoport says that several people within the organization have “battled” to improve the working relationship between Jackson and Haley, but to no avail. He adds that if the two men cannot reconcile their differences, the team will likely make a move.
In fact, Rapoport suggests that Haley could be the one getting the ax, because while Jackson has compiled a horrible record while at the helm, he is still in charge, and Haley’s interactions with his boss may amount to insubordination. It would be surprising to see Haley fired before Jackson, but Rapoport indicates that option certainly remains on the table.
Even if both men survive the year, the Browns could go in a different direction at the end of the season. After all, Dorsey did not hire Jackson, and with Mayfield under center and a legitimate GM calling the shots, Cleveland may very well be a desirable destination for some of the top head coaching candidates next offseason, which is a rarity for the franchise.
One way or another, things could be coming to a head. It is just a shame that, even in a year that has seen real signs of improvement, the Browns still cannot seem to get out of their own way.
Callaway Has Another Legal Run-in
- Browns receiver Antonio Callaway has a well-documented legal history. He dealt with lots of off-field issues while at Florida, then was arrested this summer and reportedly didn’t tell the Browns about it until it was reported in the media. Now, Callaway was pulled over for speeding on his way to the team’s game against the Chargers a couple of weeks back, according to Robin Goist of Cleveland.com. It’s a very minor incident, but still worth noting due to Callaway already being on thin ice with the team. Callaway’s role has been reduced in recent weeks, even with injuries piling up to the Browns’ pass-catchers, and it seems like he’s in the doghouse with the coaching staff.