Browns Sign Isaac Rochell, Javon Wims
The Browns have made a depth addition on each side of the ball. The team announced Wednesday the signings of defensive end Isaac Rochell and receiver Javon Wims. 
Rochell, who will turn 27 later this week, began his career with the Chargers. In four years there, he rarely started, but played a notable role in the team’s defensive front. His best season came in 2018, when he registered 29 tackles and five of his 9.5 career sacks.
His play earned him a deal from the Colts last offseason. The value of the one-year contract outweighed what the Chargers could have paid to keep him, but his production points to letting him leave having been the right decision. In 12 games, Rochell totalled 17 tackles and no sacks. Now, he will join a Browns team which just recently signed Stephen Weatherly.
Wims, 27, is also joining a new team for the second time in his career. A seventh-round pick of the Bears in 2018, he started seven of 33 games in Chicago. He recorded 18 receptions and 186 yards in 2019, but made just 10 total catches in his other two campaigns. After being waived by the Bears, he spent 2021 on the Raiders’ practice squad.
These deals likely won’t have any significant effect on Cleveland’s cap space, meaning that reunions with the likes of Jadeveon Clowney and Jarvis Landry are still possible. In any event, these two represent depth at key positions for a team looking to seriously contend in the AFC in 2022.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/19/22
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: OL Haggai Chisom Ndubuisi
Los Angeles Rams
- Waived: C Drake Jackson
Free Agents
- Retired: OT Brad Seaton
Despite never seeing time in a regular season NFL game, Seaton stuck around around the league for five years. The Villanova product was a 2017 seventh-round pick by the Titans, and he later had two stints with the Buccaneers and a stint with the Browns. The 28-year-old opted out of the 2020 campaign, and he missed the entire 2021 season with an injury.
RFA/ERFA Tender Signings: 4/19/22
Here’s a look at the latest tender signings from around the NFL:
RFAs
Signed:
- Colts: WR Ashton Dulin
- 49ers: OL Daniel Brunskill
- Falcons: WR Olamide Zaccheaus
- Seahawks: G Phil Haynes
- Steelers: LB Marcus Allen
ERFAs
Signed:
- Commandeers: C Keith Ismael
- 49ers: WR Jauan Jennings
- Lions: S Juju Hughes, RB Godwin Igwebuike, OT Matt Nelson
- Rams: QB John Wolford
- Seahawks: WR Penny Hart, DT Bryan Mone, LB Tanner Muse, S Ryan Neal, CB John Reid, LB Jon Rhattigan, C Dakoda Shepley
Steelers Claim WR Miles Boykin
Miles Boykin will have another chance in the AFC North. A day after the Ravens moved on, the Steelers made a successful waiver claim, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.
One year remains on Boykin’s rookie contract. The Steelers have an extensive track record of developing receivers, and Boykin will be leaving the NFL’s run-heaviest offense. Of course, the Steelers have an uncertain quarterback situation — one now centered around Mitchell Trubisky — and Boykin is coming off a 2021 no-show.
Even as the former third-round pick struggled to catch on in Baltimore, he did combine for seven touchdown receptions on just 32 grabs between the 2019 and ’20 seasons. Subsequent Ravens additions Devin Duvernay and Rashod Bateman surpassed Boykin on the team’s depth chart. The 6-foot-4 wideout played eight games last season and caught only one pass.
Pittsburgh lost JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington in free agency, opening the door for others to vie for a complementary role alongside Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool. Boykin and Claypool were teammates at Notre Dame. The Steelers drafted Johnson in the 2019 third round, 27 spots before Boykin. Washington signed with the Cowboys, while Smith-Schuster joined the Chiefs a year after spurning their offer to stay in Pittsburgh.
Falcons Sign DT Vincent Taylor
The Falcons have made a depth addition to their defensive line. The team announced on Tuesday that they are signing journeyman defensive tackle Vincent Taylor. 
The move comes one week after Taylor visited with Atlanta, so the signing comes as little surprise. The 28-year-old was originally a sixth-round pick of the Dolphins in 2017. He only lasted two seasons there, the second of which was cut short by a foot injury. In September 2019, he was cut by Miami.
That began a stretch of three seasons in which Taylor played for a new team each year. The most notable of those campaigns was in 2020 with the Browns. He played in a career-high 15 games, recording 12 tackles and a fumble recovery. That led him to Houston this past offseason, where he started only the second game of his NFL tenure in Week 1. An ankle injury suffered in that contest, however, ultimately ended his season.
Having only been available for 40 games in five seasons, the Oklahoma St. product will add experienced depth along the Falcons’ defensive line. He is likely to see a rotational role behind the likes of Grady Jarrett and Anthony Rush. The team has plenty of room for improvement on defense, having ranked 27th against the run and 26th overall last season. Taylor will look to help improve those statistics, and earn himself a multi-year stay in the process.
Saints Re-Sign Dwayne Washington
Dwayne Washington is staying in New Orleans. The team announced today that they’ve re-signed the veteran running back and special teamer. It’s a one-year deal for the six-year veteran.
A 2016 seventh-round pick, Washington spent the first two seasons of his career with the Lions, including a rookie season where he collected 327 yards from scrimmage. Washington hasn’t come close to replicating those offensive numbers since, but he’s still established an NFL career thanks to his special teams prowess.
Since joining the Saints organization in 2018, Washington has appeared in more than half of his team’s special teams snaps. He’s collected 15 tackles in his four years with New Orleans, and he’s returned six kickoffs for 99 yards. He’s also had a small role on offense, collecting 50 touches for 263 yards from scrimmage.
It’ll probably be more of the same next season for the 27-year-old. Washington will likely be buried on the depth chart behind Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram, and Tony Jones Jr., but he’ll continue to be relied on for special teams.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 4/18/22
Here’s a look at the latest tender decisions from around the NFL:
RFAs
Signed:
- Rams: LB Travin Howard
ERFAs
Signed:
- Browns: WR Ja’Marcus Bradley, G Michael Dunn
- Chargers: T Storm Norton
- Jets: CB Javelin Guidry, S Elijah Riley, WR Jeff Smith, DE Tim Ward
- Lions: WR Tom Kennedy, TE Brock Wright
- Packers: LB Krys Barnes, TE Dominique Dafney, C Jake Hanson, T Yosh Nijman, LB Randy Ramsey; WR Malik Taylor
- Ravens: C Trystan Colon, QB Tyler Huntley, LS Nick Moore, LB Kristian Welch
Browns Sign DT Sheldon Day, DE Stephen Weatherly
Sheldon Day will soon vie to keep his role as a Browns rotational defensive tackle. The veteran re-signed to stay in Cleveland on Monday, but the Browns did not stop there in adding pieces up front.
Stephen Weatherly, an edge player who was in Minnesota during part of Kevin Stefanski‘s run with the Vikings, also agreed to terms with the Browns. Weatherly, 28, finished last season with the Broncos, being part of the team’s post-Von Miller edge-rushing corps.
Cleveland has seen some upheaval on its defensive line. Jadeveon Clowney is unsigned, as is fellow 2021 starter Malik Jackson. The Browns did not extend a tender to Malik McDowell, whose off-field struggles continued with an arrest in January. The Browns also let defensive tackle Andrew Billings walk; Billings is now a Raider. This leaves the door open for others to step in, both on the edge and the interior.
Despite the presences of Jackson, McDowell and Billings, Day was a regular in the games he played. The former Jaguars, 49ers and Colts contributor did not make the Browns’ 53-man roster out of training camp but stayed on as a member of the team’s 16-man practice squad. Day, 27, eventually rose to the active roster and played in seven games, playing 46% of the Browns’ defensive snaps in those games. Day, who started for the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, registered a sack and deflected two passes during his first Browns season.
While Day has a history with Cleveland defensive coordinator Joe Woods, from the duo’s time in San Francisco, Weatherly was with Minnesota from 2016-19. He backed up Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen during much of that time, making seven starts. After spending the 2020 season with the Panthers, Weatherly re-signed with the Vikings last year. Minnesota traded him to Denver, where he saw more run on a Broncos edge crew that was without Miller and an injured Bradley Chubb for most of the season. Weatherly recorded 2.5 sacks and five tackles for loss in nine games with the Broncos.
Ravens Waive WR Miles Boykin
Miles Boykin popped up in trade rumors just ahead of free agency, but the Ravens were not able to deal him. As they start their offseason program, the Ravens waived the former third-round pick.
This comes after Boykin tumbled down Baltimore’s depth chart, catching just one pass in eight games last season. This move will save the Ravens just more than $2.5MM in cap space.
A hamstring issue led to Boykin beginning last season on IR, but the Ravens had used another first-round pick on a wide receiver (Rashod Bateman) last year and had signed Sammy Watkins to play alongside Marquise Brown. After starting 24 games over his first two seasons, Boykin was relegated to backup duty during the games in which he was active. Boykin totaled 32 receptions for 464 yards and seven touchdowns from 2019-20, but he entered the Ravens’ 2021 training camp on their roster bubble.
The Ravens let the injury-prone Watkins walk in free agency and did not replace him with a veteran. Baltimore’s run-centric offense led to some big-name receivers turning down offers last year, but the team does return Brown, Bateman and 2020 third-rounder Devin Duvernay, an All-Pro return man who moved past Boykin on the depth chart last year.
Browns, Denzel Ward Finalizing Extension
The Browns have made a pair of massive additions to their offense already this offseason. Today, they made another big splash, signing cornerback Denzel Ward to a lucrative second contract. Ward is inking a five-year, $100.5MM extension (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). 
Schefter adds that the deal includes $71.25MM in guaranteed money. That figure, along with the $20.1MM-per-year average, makes Ward the highest-paid corner in league history, putting him just ahead of Jalen Ramsey. After being the fourth-overall pick in 2018, the 24-year-old has established himself as a cornerstone of the Browns’ defense.
Ward immediately became a starter in his rookie season, recording three interceptions and 11 pass deflections. He has essentially replicated those totals throughout his four seasons in the league, earning Pro Bowl nods in 2018 and 2021. The former Buckeye has yet to surrender a completion percentage above 60.3%. He was still under contract for the upcoming campaign, scheduled to make $13.3MM on his fifth-year option. Now, he will be in the fold through 2027.
This deal makes Ward the second member of the 2018 draft class to receive an extension. The other, running back Nick Chubb, signed a $36MM extension this past July. Those two players have been integral to the team’s success, leading to their vastly different situations relative to the top pick that year, Baker Mayfield.
Ward will stay in place at the head of a CB room which also features Greedy Williams and Greg Newsome. The team doesn’t own a first-round pick as a result of the Deshaun Watson trade, but their secondary is already in solid shape without one for both the short- and long-term future.