Cleveland Browns News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/30/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here. Teams have until 3pm CT Tuesday to pare their rosters down to 53 players.

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Darron Lee

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/25/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals 

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Nate Hall

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed: LB Nate Evans
  • Waived: DL Frederick Smith Jr.

Los Angeles Rams

  • Waived: LS Steven Wirtel

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: WR Marvin Hall

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/24/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here. Teams had until 3pm today to cut their rosters down to 80 players.

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

  • Waived: QB Kenji Bahar

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: OT Casey Tucker

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: K Ryan Succop
  • Waived/injured: OT Chidi Okeke

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/23/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here. Teams have until 4pm ET/3pm CT Tuesday to reach the 80-man roster limit.

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts 

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: OT Jonathan Hubbard
  • Released from IR via injury settlement: Sam Renner

Tennessee Titans

Browns To Place Cody Parkey On IR

The Browns will officially have a new kicker in 2021. Cleveland will place kicker Cody Parkey on injured reserve with a quad injury, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Monday.

Since Parkey is being moved to IR before final roster cut-downs, it means he won’t be able to play for the Browns this season. He kicked in 15 games for the Browns in 2020, connecting on 19 of his 22 field goal attempts. He went 43/47 on extra point attempts. Parkey has been the regular season kicker for four different teams in the past four seasons.

He was with the Dolphins in 2017, the Bears in 2018, the Titans in 2019, and then the Browns last year. He began his pro career in 2014, and was the Eagles’ kicker in his rookie season, so he’s bounced around a fair amount. Parkey has kicked in plenty of games, but he’s perhaps most well known for his infamous ‘double doink’ missed kick in the playoffs with Chicago a few years ago.

The move will leave Chase McLaughlin as the only kicker on Cleveland’s roster. Although beat writers were quick to point out that Stefanski stopped short of declaring McLaughlin the new full-time kicker, it appears it’ll be him unless they decide to add a last-minute veteran to the mix. McLaughlin kicked in three games with the Jaguars and one with the Jets last year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/20/21

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

  • Signed: WR Damon Hazelton
  • Waived: CB Dominique Martin

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

Browns’ David Njoku Wants Extension

It sounds like David Njoku wants to stick with the Browns after all. Despite his previous trade demands (and flip-flops on the matter), the tight end says he wants to move forward with Cleveland

I’ve been here (Cleveland) for four years going on five,” Njoku said on Friday. “I don’t know anything different. I want to keep being here.”

Njoku pushed for a trade last summer and doubled down prior to the 2020 trade deadline. He also made it sound like he wanted out as recently as February. However, it seems like Njoku is now in a good place with the Browns.

The Browns signed Austin Hooper to a big contract last year and drafted Harrison Bryant, which reduced Njoku’s role in the offense. He finished out 2020 with just 19 catches for 213 yards and one touchdown. That was a far cry from his best work in 2018 — 56 grabs for 639 yards and four TDs. In between, he lost most of 2019 to injury.

While he’s shown plenty of flashes of potential, the U of M product has yet to live up to his first-round status. But, despite all the drama and the crowded TE chart, the Browns still opted to exercise his fifth-year option. For now, he’s got one year and ~$6MM to go on his deal.

Browns Sign Willie Harvey Jr.

The Browns have signed free agent linebacker Willie Harvey Jr. (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Harvey, who spent time with the Browns a couple years back, could help fill in for Jacob Phillips following his biceps tear.

[RELATED: Browns’ Jacob Phillips Done For Year?]

Harvey had a standout career at Iowa State and was widely expected to be a Day 3 pick in 2019. Instead, he went undrafted and wound up signing with the Browns as a UDFA. The 230-pound defender had a solid preseason for the Browns, compiling 10 tackles and one pass defended. He didn’t make the final cut, but he did manage to earn a promotion from the taxi squad and see time in a couple of games that year.

Harvey hasn’t seen live action since ’19, but Phillips’ (likely) season-ending injury could open the door for him. Plus, with Sione Takitaki‘s hamstring trouble, he should be able to get some preseason snaps. The Browns will face the Giants on Sunday before wrapping their exhibition slate against the Falcons on Aug. 29.

Browns’ Jacob Phillips Done For Year?

Browns linebacker Jacob Phillips is likely done for the year with a biceps tear (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). Philips will know more about his outlook following surgery to repair the tendon.

[RELATED: Browns’ Delpit Suffers Injury Setback]

Phillips, a 2020 3rd-round pick of the Browns, was expected to be a core contributor on defense. He was in the midst of a solid camp and trending in the right direction after missing a good chunk of his rookie year with a knee sprain. The Browns planned on using him as Anthony Walker‘s primary backup at middle linebacker with some possible action on the weakside.

Without Phillips, the Browns will be counting on 2021 second-rounder Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah to pick things up quickly. They’ll also be keeping their fingers crossed for fellow ‘backer Sione Takitaki as he recovers from a (less severe) hamstring injury.

 

Grant Delpit Suffers Injury Setback

  • The Steelers are preparing Schobert for a big workload. The former Browns linebacker is slated to start, be Pittsburgh’s dime ‘backer and wear the green dot that signifies he will communicate with coaches pre-snap, Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com tweets. Quite the plan for a player who has been with the team less than a week, but Schobert played 99% of his team’s defensive snaps in each of the past two seasons. Pittsburgh’s designs for Schobert will mark a transition for Devin Bush, but Steelers DC Keith Butler said (via The Athletic’s Ed Bouchette; subscription required) the team wants the former first-round pick to focus solely on returning to full strength. Bush is coming back after suffering an ACL tear last October.
  • Grant Delpit‘s comeback continues to hit snags. Completing a return from the Achilles rupture he suffered last August, Delpit injured his hamstring after just nine practice snaps. The Browns safety has since aggravated that hamstring issue and will miss more time, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes. Delpit was already iffy for Cleveland’s Week 1 game in Kansas City. The LSU product missing the start of the Browns’ season now looks likelier.