Browns Will Be "Run-Oriented Football Team"
- The Browns picked up quarterback Robert Griffin III in free agency and ex-Baylor receiver Corey Coleman via the first round of the draft, but they’re nonetheless “going to be a run-oriented football team,” run game coordinator Kirby Wilson told Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. As Roster Resource shows, the Browns’ top two rushers from last season – Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson – remain in the equation, and three former undrafted free agents trail behind them. Given that trio’s lack of pedigree and the fact that neither Crowell nor Johnson eclipsed 3.8 yards per carry last season, it’s not exactly the most promising group on paper. Johnson, to his credit, caught 61 passes as a rookie, leading Wilson to call the 2015 third-rounder from Miami “an ultimate weapon.”
Best/Worst Browns Contracts
- While the Bengals don’t have many poor contracts to choose from, the Browns are lacking in team-friendly deals, but tackle Joe Thomas has been so productive that Fitzgerald believes the veteran has earned his contract. Unfortunately, Cleveland has a long track record of questionable pacts, and the worst might be linebacker Paul Kruger, who signed a five-year, $40.5MM after making just six career starts with the Ravens.
Brows Likely Not Signing Any Veterans Soon
- Contrary to the Lions, who we heard are looking at potential UFAs as training camp nears, the Browns aren’t likely to make any such efforts, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. The rebuilding Browns jettisoned veterans like Donte Whitner, Karlos Dansby, Randy Starks and Brian Hartline and won’t be aiming to deprive their young contributors of reps, per Cabot.
Latest On Josh McCown
- Veteran quarterback Josh McCown‘s status with the Browns seems to be in some dispute — while Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com believes the club would only trade McCown if they received a “tremendous offer,” Tony Grossi of ESPN.com disagrees (Twitter link), and doesn’t project McCown to make the final Cleveland roster. After waiving Connor Shaw on Thursday, the Browns now field Robert Griffin III, McCown, Austin Davis, and third-round rookie Cody Kessler on their depth chart, as Roster Resource shows. McCown was thought to be a trade candidate earlier this offseason, with the Broncos among the teams that reportedly expressed interest. If Cleveland ends up releasing McCown, the team would save nearly $3.4MM on its salary cap.
Johnny Manziel Not Eyeing 2016 NFL Comeback
SATURDAY, 8:45am: For what it’s worth, Manziel does have one offer… from the Arena Football League. Commissioner Scott Butera told TMZ that his league would welcome the embattled quarterback with open arms.
“We could provide a strong platform for him to demonstrate that he is back,” Butera said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “We would also work with him and provide him whatever help he needed to live a healthy life.”
Unfortunately, there’s only about a month left of the AFL season, so it’s uncertain whether Manziel could even see the field in 2016.
THURSDAY, 6:29pm: The NFL suspended Johnny Manziel for four games this season for a violation its substance abuse policy, and the former first-round pick has indicated privately his best chance at a return to the league will be in 2017, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.
This doesn’t come as a shock to those around the league, Fowler notes, with most categorizing the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback as not being in game shape. A personal-conduct penalty could soon follow Manziel’s most recent ban, with the recently cut passer having been charged with misdemeanor assault for a January incident involving
his ex-girlfriend in Dallas.
An NFL executive also appeared to categorize the league as distancing itself from Manziel from a football sense, telling Fowler, “It’s about getting his life on track. That’s it.” The fact that Manziel did not display much on the field won’t help his effort to revive what’s been one of the more catastrophic careers in memory.
He carries a 57% career completion rate and has thrown seven career touchdown passes compared to seven interceptions and couldn’t stay on the field with the Browns last season due to off-the-field issues. Manziel will have a difficult time convincing a team he’s employable next season based on the events of the past two years.
The Browns, though, look to have saved some money as a result of the suspension.
Cleveland cut the maligned first-round pick in March and was on the hook for the remaining guaranteed money in his rookie deal as a result of Manziel clearing waivers. Manziel’s $1.17MM 2016 salary is fully guaranteed, as is $1MM of his 2017 salary. But Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports the contract contemplates voiding those guarantees for a number of reasons, with an NFL-imposed suspension being one. In that case, the team would not have to pay the remaining $2.17MM.
The Browns waiving Manziel before he was suspended clouds this issue somewhat, however.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jamar Taylor Excited About Fresh Start With Browns
- Miami traded fourth-year cornerback Jamar Taylor Cleveland earlier this offseason, and the former second-round pick is excited for a new beginning with the Browns. “It’s definitely a fresh start for me. For what I went through in Miami, it’s all over. This is a great group of people here, a great organization, a great staff,” Taylor told Patrick Maks of ClevelandBrowns.com. “Nobody knows me, I know nobody. It’s just really new for me. It’s definitely a fresh start, but it’s a fresh start for everybody. None of the coaches really know a lot of these guys so everybody knows they just have to go put it on tape. You are who you put on tape and you are who you are around your teammates.”
Browns Waive QB Connor Shaw
The Browns have waived quarterback Connor Shaw, as Shaw himself indicated by thanking the organization for his time in Cleveland via Twitter. Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal has since confirmed the move (Twitter link). Because he’s not a vested veteran, Shaw will have to pass through waivers — if he’s not claimed by another club, he’ll become a free agent.
[RELATED: Updated Cleveland Browns depth chart]
Shaw, who will be 25 years old during the upcoming season, has just one career NFL appearance to his name. He started the final game of the 2014 season for the Browns, completing 14-of-28 pass attempts for 177 yards and one touchdown in a loss to the division rival Ravens. Expected to compete for Cleveland’s No. 3 quarterback job in 2015, Shaw suffered a thumb injury prior to the regular season, and was placed on injured reserve.
The Browns coaching staff and front office have given lip service to an all-out quarterback competition taking place in advance of the regular season, but it still seems overwhelmingly likely that free agent signee Robert Griffin III will take the first snap in Week 1. Veteran Josh McCown is still on the roster, though he’s been the subject of trade speculation, while Cleveland also has Austin Davis and third-round rookie Cody Kessler under contract.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Browns Sign Carl Nassib, Wrap Up Draft Class
The Browns have signed third-round pick Carl Nassib, Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer tweets. With Nassib in the fold, the Browns have now locked up all 14 members of their massive rookie class.
Nassib – the 65th overall selection and brother of Giants quarterback Ryan Nassib – had a breakout season last year at Penn State, where he piled up 15.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss en route to All-America honors. He’ll now try to transfer that pass-rushing prowess to Cleveland, which finished 28th in the NFL in sacks last season. 
Fifty picks before they took Nassib, the Browns grabbed the headliner of their class – former Baylor receiver Corey Coleman – at No. 15. Coleman, who figures to catch passes from either Robert Griffin III or Josh McCown in his rookie season, received a four-year deal worth roughly $11.655MM, with a signing bonus of $6.676MM and a first-year cap hit of $2.119MM. Coleman’s contract also features a fifth-year option for 2020, allowing Cleveland to control him for an extra season. The Browns’ selection of Coleman last month was the result of multiple trades down, first from No. 2, then from No. 8.
Here’s a full rundown of the Browns’ rookie class:
- 1-15: Corey Coleman, WR (Baylor)
- 2-32: Emmanuel Ogbah, DE/OLB (Oklahoma State)
- 3-65: Carl Nassib, DE (Penn State)
- 3-76: Shon Coleman, T (Auburn)
- 3-93: Cody Kessler, QB (USC)
- 4-99: Joe Schobert, LB (Wisconsin)
- 4-114: Ricardo Louis, WR (Auburn)
- 4-129: Derrick Kindred, S (TCU)
- 4-138: Seth DeValve, WR/TE (Princeton)
- 5-154: Jordan Payton, WR (UCLA)
- 5-168: Spencer Drango, OL (Baylor)
- 5-172: Rashard Higgins, WR (Colorado State)
- 5-173: Trey Caldwell, CB (Louisiana-Monroe)
- 7-250: Scooby Wright, LB (Arizona)
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/24/16
Today’s minor moves:
- The Browns announced that they have signed outside linebacker Joe Schobert, a fourth-round draft pick. As shown on our running list, third-round defensive end Carl Nassib stands as Cleveland’s only unsigned draft choice from this year’s class of 14 picks. According to Over the Cap, Schobert, a Wisconsin product, is in line for a four-year deal worth roughly $2.974MM, including a signing bonus of about $634K.
- The Rams have waived wide receiver J.J. Worton, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Tribune (Twitter link). Worton was an undrafted free agent out of UCF, and signed with Los Angeles at the beginning of May. The club has also waived linebacker Matthew Wells, per Jenna Laine of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Wells originally inked a futures deal back in January.
Karlos Dansby On 2015 Browns
The National Hockey League officially announced its expansion into Las Vegas on Wednesday, which could affect the NFL – and the Raiders, to be more specific. The Raiders have been working to relocate to Vegas if they fail to come up with a stadium solution in Oakland, though there has been concern historically about placing a pro sports franchise in a city built on gambling. However, as evidenced by the NHL’s decision, sports commissioners are less and less worried about gambling as a factor, per Andrew Brandt of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). Now, with the NHL having taken the plunge into Vegas, the door has opened that much more for the Raiders to do the same.
For more on the NHL’s 31 franchises, bookmark the newly launched Pro Hockey Rumors and follow PHR on Twitter.
Elsewhere around the NFL…
- Bengals linebacker Karlos Dansby has tried to recruit free agent safety Donte Whitner to Cincinnati, he told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday (Twitter link via Alex Marvez). The rebuilding Browns released Dansby in March and Whitner in April after the two played together in Cleveland from 2014-15. Given the Bengals’ situation at safety, odds are seemingly against the 31-year-old Whitner joining them as anything but a backup – for which he’s overqualified. As Roster Resource shows, the team has expensive, in-their-prime starters in George Iloka and Shawn Williams.
- In his interview with SiriusXM, Dansby also opened up about his experience with the 3-13 Browns last season (via Dan Hanzus of NFL.com). “The coaches and the front office, there was just a lot of mess going on, a lot of things going on, a lot of distractions.” Dansby said, referring to the coaching staff Mike Pettine was at the helm of and the Ray Farmer-led front office. The 13th-year man added that his teammates “had just shut down” after a certain point, which would help to explain Cleveland’s 1-10 finish. The Browns moved on from both Pettine and Farmer at the end of the season, of course, and have begun a new era with ex-Bengals assistant Hue Jackson atop the coaching staff and Sashi Brown leading the front office.
- Three of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen’s seven children – John Michael Bowlen, Brittany Bowlen and Jane Elizabeth Bowlen Wallace – are no longer employees of the organization, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. That doesn’t mean a sale of the franchise is in the works, though. “No plans for the sale of the team. The hope remains to keep the Broncos in the Bowlen family,” Broncos vice president of communications Patrick Smyth tweeted in response to a Pro Football Talk report on Wednesday. PFT’s Mike Florio is skeptical, however, noting that “hope” isn’t a guarantee and one of Bowlen’s children will eventually have to show why he or she is worthy of taking control of the Broncos. In the meantime, with Pat Bowlen having resigned as the Broncos’ CEO in 2014 because of his battle with Alzheimer’s, the team will remain in a trust and president Joe Ellis will continue running the operation.