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Browns In Need Of Defensive Line Upgrade This Offseason?

November 24th, 2022 at 8:40pm CST by Adam La Rose

2022 was always expected to be a season where the Browns were forced to be conservative on offense while quarterback Deshaun Watson served his 11-game suspension. That placed high expectations on the team’s defense, but the unit has not performed well enough to date.

Cleveland has been subpar regarding both total and scoring defense, owing in no small part to underwhelming play along the defensive interior. The Browns are allowing an average of 135 rushing yards per game, which ranks 23rd in the NFL. That has invited plenty of scrutiny for the team’s defensive tackles, a group including the likes of Jordan Elliott, Perrion Winfrey, Taven Bryan and Tommy Togiai.

Given the lack of individual development on the part of those players, and their collective performance this season, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com writes that the Browns will likely have no choice but to try and bolster the position this offseason. Doing so in the draft will be made more difficult given the assets the team parted ways with to acquire Watson, of course, and they are currently projected to be over the cap in 2023. In a more encouraging development, Winfrey is now “in good standing” with the organization, per Cabot. The fourth-round rookie had faced internal discipline for an unspecified incident in September, and has since made five tackles in six games.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • Like the Browns, the Bears could stand to improve in the middle of their defense. Chicago currently ranks 29th in rushing yards allowed (143 yards per game), and has had little in the pass-rush department from the interior. As a result, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs predicts both a sizeable free agent addition and a high draft pick each aimed at rebuilding the d-line this offseason. After several cost-cutting moves made this year, the Bears are projected to have over $100MM in cap space in 2023, and seven selections in the first five rounds of the upcoming draft. That could leave general manager Ryan Poles with plenty of opportunities to boost his squad’s defensive front as they look to move into the next phase of their rebuild.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/22/22

November 22nd, 2022 at 7:20pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: RB Tyreik McAllister, LB Ray Wilborn
  • Released: LB Harvey Langi

Houston Texans

  • Signed: DB D’Angelo Ross

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/22/22

November 22nd, 2022 at 6:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

The Bengals both designated Prince for return from IR and activated him Monday. This marks the second time this year the defending AFC champions have used one of their injury activations on a player only to waive him a day later. This first happened with Kareem, who then moved to the Bengals’ practice squad ahead of this Colts poaching. A former Dolphins sixth-rounder, Prince played in 15 Bengals games last season and started four. He has not played this year. It will be somewhat interesting if the Bengals keep Prince via a P-squad agreement, provided no waiver claims emerge.

Eifler, Rhattigan and Shudak have three weeks from Tuesday to be activated. The Seahawks, Titans and Commanders had seen their number of activation-eligible players pile up in recent weeks. Each of these teams have five injury activations remaining.

The Titans waived Week 11 kicker fill-in Josh Lambo on Monday. Primary Tennessee kicker Randy Bullock missed the game but is not on IR. Bullock suffered a calf injury during pregame warmups in Week 10. Shudak, a rookie UDFA out of Iowa who has spent the season on the Titans’ reserve/PUP list, would stand to represent insurance this week.

Browns’ Ethan Pocic To Miss Multiple Weeks

November 22nd, 2022 at 11:59am CST by Adam La Rose

The Browns will be without a starter along the offensive line for an extended stretch. Head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed that center Ethan Pocic will miss multiple weeks as a result of a knee injury. The team has since announced that he will be placed on IR.

Pocic had played every snap so far this season before going down during the first drive of Cleveland’s loss to the Bills on Sunday. Along the way, the 27-year-old established himself as a vital member of the Browns’ offensive front, one which has paved the way for the fifth-ranked rushing attack in the league this season.

Individually, Pocic has enjoyed by far the best season of his career in terms of PFF rating. His overall grade of 83.0 is a new personal mark, up from the 67.3 he registered last season in Seattle. The LSU alum has also yet to commit a penalty across 630 snaps.

Pocic signed in Cleveland this offseason to provide experienced depth at the position, one which saw plenty of turnover for the Browns. Veteran J.C. Tretter was released in a cost-cutting move, which opened the door to Nick Harris taking on the starting role. He suffered a major knee injury during the preseason, however, forcing Pocic into the first-team spot.

While the loss of the latter will certainly be felt by the Browns given his effectiveness (particularly in the run game), the team still has its top option available at every other o-line position (tackles Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin, along with guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller). Stefanski said veteran Hjalte Froholdt will slide over from right guard to center to fill in for Pocic moving forward, as he did on Sunday. Cleveland is signing veteran Greg Mancz with the roster spot opened up by Pocic’s IR placement.

Sitting at 3-7 on the year, the Browns will test out their new combination up front against the Buccaneers in Week 12 before, in all likelihood, seeing quarterback Deshaun Watson suit up for the first time this season the following week.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/21/22

November 21st, 2022 at 7:14pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

  • Released: G Jordan Meredith

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: LB Benton Whitley

New England Patriots

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed: DT Jarrod Hewitt

Tennessee Titans

Browns Activate DE Chase Winovich

November 19th, 2022 at 12:07pm CST by Ben Levine

The Browns made a handful of roster moves this morning. The team announced that they’ve activated defensive end Chase Winovich from injured reserve and placed guard Michael Dunn on IR. The team also promoted linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. and safety Mike Brown from the practice squad.

Winovich had 11 sacks through his first two seasons in the NFL but was in New England’s dog house in 2021, leading to an offseason trade to Cleveland. The defensive lineman got into two games this season with the Browns before suffering a hamstring injury in September. The injury ultimately landed Winovich on injured reserve for a few months, with the defensive end returning to practice earlier this month.

Dunn has appeared in eight games (two starts) for Cleveland this year. A back issue forced the offensive lineman to miss Week 10, and the injury will now require him to miss at least four more games. Drew Forbes and Hjalte Froholdt can help soak up some of the snaps at offensive guard.

Defensive backs D’Anthony Bell and Greg Newsome are recovering from concussions, so Brown will provide some extra depth in the secondary. The former Miami (Ohio) product joined the Browns practice squad back in October. Carter had 88 tackles in 17 starts for the Panthers last season. The linebacker was promoted for Cleveland’s Week 10 loss to the Dolphins and finished with a pair of special teams tackles.

NFL Moves Browns-Bills Game To Detroit

November 17th, 2022 at 3:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

With feet of snow expected for Buffalo this weekend, the NFL will relocate Week 11’s Browns-Bills matchup. The game is being moved to Detroit, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports (on Twitter).

The NFL announced earlier Thursday it was monitoring this game for a potential relocation, and Cabot reported earlier other venues were considered. But the Bills’ Thanksgiving game against the Lions offered some convenience. While this will cost Buffalo a home game, the contending team will now play two games in the Motor City in a five-day span.

Although the 2020 and ’21 seasons reintroduced rescheduling, the Bills having already had their bye week and being set to play on Thanksgiving removed that option from consideration. From Thursday through Saturday, the forecast calls for up to four feet of snow for the Buffalo area. Snow games obviously have a prominent place in NFL lore, with the Bills — including a 2007 game against the Browns — partaking in several such events. But “major to extreme impacts” are expected for this region, prompting the league to act.

The 17-game schedule being in its second season means NFC teams have the additional home game; Thursday’s news will reduce the number of Bills home tilts from eight to seven. The Bills will now be away from home for the next three games, with a Patriots matchup in Foxborough set for Dec. 1.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/16/22

November 16th, 2022 at 7:44pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

  • Signed: T Hunter Thedford

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/16/22

November 16th, 2022 at 5:35pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor transactions:

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Deshaun Watson Participates In First Browns Practice

November 16th, 2022 at 4:56pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today marked another important checkpoint for Deshaun Watson as he moves closer to his 2022 debut. The Browns quarterback took part in his first practice with the team on Wednesday.

Watson’s suspension imposed limits on his involvement with the team leading up to his reinstatement later this season. The last milestone came in October, when he was first allowed to resume certain activities including meetings and individual workouts. Today marked the first day during which he was eligible to practice in full with the team.

By receiving clearance to take the field, Watson remains on track to meet all necessary criteria from the suspension agreed upon by the NFL and NFLPA in August. That deal included an 11-game ban, $5MM fine and mandatory counseling. He is in line to make his Cleveland debut in Week 13 against his previous team, the Texans.

The Browns brought in Jacoby Brissett to serve as the bridge starter between the start of the campaign and Watson’s return. The veteran has put up middling numbers – a 63.8% completion percentage, 8:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio and passer rating of 87.1. That essentially falls in line with expectations entering the season, one in which the Browns were always poised to lean heavily on their ground game.

Doing so has produced the league’s tenth-highest scoring offense, but only a 3-6 record to date. As a result, Brissett’s final two games as the starter could go a long way in determining the team’s postseason outlook. That presents a problem for the Browns with respect to managing each QB’s workload during practice. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, along with James Palmer of NFL Network (video link) note that Watson received some first-team reps in an attempt to get him acclimated.

Preparation for the 27-year-old will remain key given his year-long stint on the sidelines with the Texans last year, not to mention the Browns’ five-year, $230MM commitment to him which is fully guaranteed despite the sexual misconduct and sexual assault allegations which made him the league’s biggest offseason storyline. As he presumably takes on a larger workload in the coming days and weeks, the Browns will look to remain in contention by the time he makes his first regular season appearance.

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