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Austin Seibert

Bengals Down To 53

August 31st, 2021 at 3:20pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals are in the books. With less than an hour before the deadline, the Bengals announced a series of roster cuts to take them down to 53. Here’s the full rundown:

Placed on Reserve/Non-Football Injury list:

Placed on Reserve/Injured list:

Released:

Waived:

For now, this leaves the Bengals with seven wide receivers on the roster: Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, Mike Thomas, Auden Tate, Stanley Morgan Jr., Tee Higgins, and Trenton Irwin. Meanwhile, they’re down a couple starters from last year in Michael Jordan and Mike Daniels.

AFC North Notes: Bullock, Hunt, Browns

September 16th, 2020 at 6:31pm CST by Rory Parks

The Bengals claimed K Austin Seibert off waivers from the Browns, and when that happened, most assumed that incumbent Randy Bullock would be placed on IR, or perhaps even released. However, head coach Zac Taylor said he expects Bullock to stay right where he is. “Randy’s our kicker,” Taylor said. (Twitter link via Ben Baby of ESPN.com).

Cincinnati suffered a difficult Week 1 loss against the Chargers, and Bullock shanked a 31-yard field goal try that would have sent the game to overtime. He also appeared to injure his left calf on the kick — though some are skeptical — but Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that the injury isn’t serious (Twitter link). In fairness to Bullock, he did make a 50-yarder and a 43-yarder earlier in the game, and he converted his only PAT.

The Bengals take on Seibert’s former employer in a divisional battle tomorrow night.

Now for more from the AFC North:

  • The Browns recently handed running back Kareem Hunt a two-year extension, and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com has a few details. As previously reported, the new money can max out at $13.25MM, and Hunt will take home base salaries of $4MM, $1.3MM, and $1.35MM over the next three seasons. The remaining money will come via roster bonuses designed to make sure that Hunt keeps himself out of trouble. One is tied to his making it to training camp without incident, one is tied to his making it to Week 1 without incident, and one is tied to his making it to the end of the season without incident. He will also receive weekly 53-man roster bonuses.
  • In the same piece linked above, Cabot reports that the Browns were indeed the team that would have been involved in a Jadeveon Clowney sign-and-trade with the Saints. In the proposed deal, which the NFL nixed, Cleveland would have signed Clowney to a one-year, $15MM contract, including a $5MM signing bonus. The team would have then shipped Clowney to New Orleans in exchange for a second-round pick and a player.
  • Cabot further notes that the Browns should be getting CB Greedy Williams back soon. Williams missed the team’s Week 1 loss to the Ravens with a shoulder injury but is not expected to land on IR.
  • The Steelers placed right tackle Zach Banner on IR yesterday.

Bengals Claim Austin Seibert Off Waivers

September 15th, 2020 at 11:10am CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals have claimed kicker Austin Seibert off waivers from the Browns, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The move won’t become officially official until 4pm ET/3pm CT, but the Bengals are guaranteed to get Seibert thanks to their No. 1 priority on the waiver wire.

[RELATED: Bengals Place Trae Waynes On IR]

The Browns dropped Seibert earlier this week and it now appears that they’ll be facing him on Thursday night for their intrastate showdown. The Bengals grabbed Seibert as insurance for Randy Bullock, who may be out with a calf injury. Injury aside, Bullock also missed a 31-yard field goal down the stretch of their Week 1 loss to the Chargers.

Seibert’s last straw in Cleveland came after a blowout loss to the Ravens. The young kicker missed a field goal and an extra point attempt in the 38-6 defeat, though there was plenty of blame to go around. As a rookie last year, Seibert nailed 86.2% of his field goal tries, though he missed five of his XPs.

Browns Promote K Cody Parkey

September 14th, 2020 at 12:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The Browns have called Cody Parkey up from the practice squad, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). Parkey, presumably, will replace kicker Austin Seibert who had a rough outing on Sunday.

This marks a return to Cleveland’s active roster for Parkey, who kicked in 14 Browns games in 2016. Parkey, a 2014 Pro Bowler with the Eagles, made 80% of his field goals that year.

The Browns watched Seibert miss a 41-yard field goal try and an extra point in their 38-6 blowout loss to the Ravens. His two kickoff tries left much to be desired, as well. The Browns used a fifth-round pick on the Oklahoma product just one year ago, but they’re leaving nothing to chance as they try to turn things around in 2020. As a rookie, Seibert nailed 86.2% of his field goal tries and was perfect inside of the 40. His XP completion rate was spotty, however – the youngster missed five of his 35 attempts.

The Browns and Parkey will try to get to .500 on Thursday night when they face the Bengals in Cincinnati.

Cody Parkey Lands On Browns’ P-Squad

September 8th, 2020 at 5:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

After bringing Cody Parkey in for a workout and a subsequent visit, the Browns are indeed keeping the veteran kicker around.

Parkey agreed to join Cleveland’s practice squad. He represents kicker insurance behind incumbent Austin Seibert, whom the Browns — under the previous John Dorsey regime — drafted in the fifth round last year.

This marks a return to Cleveland for Parkey, who kicked in 14 Browns games in 2016. He made 80% of his field goals that year. The Browns have used different kickers in each of the past six seasons, though Seibert looks likely to snap that streak. He will have Parkey, a 2014 Pro Bowler with the Eagles, representing continual competition, however.

Former Titans third-round wide receiver Taywan Taylor also landed on the Browns’ practice squad. Taylor, who posted 466 receiving yards in 2018, was with the Browns last year and in training camp this year.

Following their Tuesday addition of tackle Greg Senat to the practice-only crew, here is the Browns’ squad:

Browns Eyeing Free Agent Kickers

August 18th, 2019 at 2:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Both Browns kickers — incumbent Greg Joseph and fifth-round rookie Austin Seibert — missed their only field goal tries Saturday night. Although each came from beyond 50 yards, the Browns are now considering bringing in additional competition.

Freddie Kitchens said he and John Dorsey have discussed adding another kicker to their mix, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes.

While it would certainly be odd for the Browns to go elsewhere, after spending a mid-Day 3 pick on one of the nation’s best college kickers, teams are quicker to give up on kicker draft picks than they are at nearly every other position. The Browns did this just last year, cutting 2017 seventh-rounder Zane Gonzalez two games into last season.

“To me, those critical errors are just as important as the missed field goals themselves because we’ve got to put them in a better position to make them. But are they expected to make a 53-yard field goal? Yes they are,” Kitchens said, via Cabot. “Am I concerned about it? No, because we’re not playing for real yet, but I will be.”

Joseph made 17 of 20 field goal attempts last season and went 1-for-2 from beyond 50 yards. Seibert was 17-for-19 as an Oklahoma senior and kicked for the Sooners for four years. Joseph made a 43-yarder in Cleveland’s preseason opener but missed an extra point. Seibert has yet to miss a PAT in his brief time as a pro.

Browns Sign 5 Draft Picks

May 3rd, 2019 at 6:20pm CST by Zachary Links

The Browns are wasting little time in getting their rookies on board. On Friday, the Browns inked five of their seven draft picks, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Here’s the rundown: 

Wilson, taken with the No. 155 overall pick, says he’s on a mission to prove that he is the best linebacker in the entire 2019 draft class.

“That chip is going to always be on my shoulder,” said Wilson, who anticipated being drafted no later than the third round. “I’m going to always think about it. I feel like I have to prove people wrong, but I just want to show that in this draft, I was the best linebacker. There were 31 teams that slipped up on me, and somebody is going to have to feel all the pain that I built up these past few days.”

After registering 113 total tackles and six interceptions across 33 games at Alabama, Wilson has a right to be disappointed in his draft slot. Of course, that won’t matter much in the long run if he can prove himself at the pro level.

With those five under contract, the Browns have only two stragglers to go: LSU cornerback Greedy Williams (second round) and BYU linebacker Sione Takitaki (third round).