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Wyatt Teller

Browns Activate G Wyatt Teller

October 26th, 2024 at 11:51am CST by Ben Levine

The Browns are adding some reinforcement to their offensive line. The team announced that they’ve activated guard Wyatt Teller from injured reserve. To make room on the active roster for Teller, the team waived cornerback Kahlef Hailassie. Cleveland also promoted wideout Jaelon Darden from the practice squad as a standard gameday elevation.

Teller suffered a knee injury in Week 3 that ultimately required the minimum stay on IR. Zak Zinter was first tasked with filling it at right guard, with Michael Dunn eventually taking the spot. Teller will immediately slide back into the starting spot, and other than Dawand Jones filling in for Jedrick Wills, the Browns should have their full line this weekend.

Teller, a 2018 fifth-round pick, has spent the majority of his career in Cleveland, earning a pair of second-team All-Pro nods. He only missed a pair of games between the 2021 and 2023 seasons, with Pro Football Focus consistently ranking him among the top-20 players at his position (including a fifth-place finish in 2021). This season, Teller has dropped to 30th among 80 qualifying guards.

Darden has already seen time in three games with the Browns this season. The majority of his snaps have come on special teams, where he’s returned four kickoffs and 12 punts. Hailassie has spent the better part of the past one-plus seasons in Cleveland, including a 2023 campaign where he appeared in nine games. The defensive back has only been active for a single appearance in 2024.

Browns Designate Wyatt Teller For Return; Nyheim Hines Out For Season

October 23rd, 2024 at 1:01pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Browns have designated right guard Wyatt Teller for return from injured reserve with the expectation that he will play in Week 8 against the Ravens, per Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Teller suffered a sprained MCL in Week 3, sidelining him for Cleveland’s last four games with rookie Zak Zinter and veteran Michael Dunn starting in his absence.

Teller would have to be activated to the 53-man roster to suit up on Sunday, but he can practice for up to three weeks without being activated before he reverts to season-ending IR. Head coach Kevin Stefanski indicated that the veteran lineman — a six-year Browns starter — will not require an extended ramp-up period before retaking the field.

Stefanski also said that running back Nyheim Hines would not be activated from the non-football injury list this week, delaying his comeback from a freak ACL tear in a jet ski accident in the summer of 2023. Hines spent all of last season on the NFI list in Buffalo before making his way to Cleveland, where the Browns hoped he could complete his rehab and contribute to their backfield this season.

Hines began practicing on October 2, opening a 21-day window before he had to be added to the 53-man roster or revert to season-ending injured reserve. It will be the latter for Hines, who will miss his second season in a row, potentially putting his long-term career in jeopardy at the age of 27 in an era of devalued running backs.

The Browns will stick with Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford to lead the backfield for the rest of the year, with D’Onta Foreman and Pierre Strong providing rotational depth and special teams snaps. Chubb came off the PUP list last week, providing a positive development during what has otherwise been a miserable Browns season. While the player the Browns hoped could be his pass-down complement is out of the picture, Teller’s return will put the Browns in position to have their full O-line available for the first time since the 2023 opener.

Browns To Place G Wyatt Teller On IR

September 25th, 2024 at 10:17am CST by Adam La Rose

SEPTEMBER 25: The team has moved Teller to IR, per Cabot. Considering the veteran guard’s timetable, this move is unsurprising. Though, it comes as the Browns continue to see their tackles unable to play together. Wills and Conklin have not completed a game together since the 2022 season. Teller is now out until at least Week 8.

SEPTEMBER 23: Wyatt Teller suffered a knee injury on Sunday, and he is now facing a notable absence. The Pro Bowl Browns guard is dealing with a Grade 2 MCL sprain, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

As a result, Garafolo adds an absence of roughly four weeks is expected. Head coach Kevin Stafanski said on Monday the team is considering injured reserve, a move which would require at least four games on the sidelines. An IR stint would come as no surprise given Teller’s reported recovery timeline, although Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot notes a second opinion is being sought out before any final decisions are made.

Losing Teller for any extended period would of course represent a major blow to Browns’ O-line. The 29-year-old has formed one of the league’s top guard tandems alongside Joel Bitonio since 2019. The last time Teller missed signficant time was in 2020, when he was sidelined for five games. A similar span on the sidelines appears to be in store.

Teller earned a second-team All-Pro nod in 2020 and again the following year. He has been a Pro Bowler for each of the past three seasons, leading to expectations for another standout campaign in 2024. As the Browns move forward with question marks at the quarterback spot, though, they will be increasingly shorthanded up front. Left tackle Jedrick Wills made his season debut yesterday, but fellow lineman James Hudson suffered a shoulder injury which Cabot notes will require an MRI. Right tackle Jack Conklin has yet to play this season.

Third-round rookie Zak Zinter logged a career-high 51 offensive snaps in Week 3, and he could be in line to handle starting duties while Teller is sidelined. Cleveland dedicated two return slots to Michael Dunn and Nyheim Hines before roster cutdowns, leaving the team with six IR activations. Teller will use up one of them once healthy in the event he is indeed moved to injured reserve.

Latest On Browns’ Interior OL Depth

July 12th, 2024 at 10:01pm CST by Ely Allen

The Browns have been set at guard for the last five years. Joel Bitonio has held down a starting job in Cleveland since getting drafted in 2014, making the Pro Bowl in each of the last six seasons and earning first-team All-Pro honors in 2021 and 2022. Wyatt Teller has joined Bitonio as a starter since being traded from Buffalo in 2019 and has joined Bitonio in the last three Pro Bowls. The team’s depth behind the two is set to look a little different in 2024, though.

The need for depth hasn’t been critical during the tenure of Bitonio and Teller. Bitonio missed 17 games back in his second and third seasons but didn’t miss any games after that until this past season. Teller has only missed two games in the past three years but hasn’t quite shown the durability of Bitonio in a shorter career. Still, with Bitonio heading into his 11th season in which he’ll turn 33, it makes sense to have an eye on the future.

While Michael Dunn has been a serviceable injury replacement, starting two games in each of the last three years, he doesn’t provide much upside as the future starter at the position. For that reason, the Browns made two key additions to the roster this offseason, signing former Seahawks starter Germain Ifedi and drafting Michigan rookie Zak Zinter in the third round of this year’s draft.

The preferred option here is likely Zinter, who’s had an excellent camp, according to Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. Cleveland got an excellent value on Zinter after the former Wolverine needed to have a steel rod placed in his leg, preventing him from working out for teams throughout the pre-draft process. He was able to participate fully in organized team activities and minicamp and showed enough to have the Browns excited about his potential to eventually replace Bitonio or Teller as a top guard.

Without the opportunity to start this year, Zinter should still have the chance to push Dunn for the primary backup role at guard. If, for any reason, Zinter isn’t quite ready to step into that role, Cleveland has Dunn and an experienced starter in Ifedi to hold down the role until he is.

NFL Restructures: 49ers, Humphrey, Barrett, Teller

September 6th, 2023 at 9:11pm CST by Ely Allen

The NFL has an offseason rule called the Top 51 rule. The Top 51 rule dictates that, from the start of the new NFL league year until the beginning of the regular season, only the top 51 contracts (in terms of salary cap hit) count against a team’s salary cap. With the 2023 regular season starting tomorrow, the Top 51 rule expired at 4pm today.

This means that each team in the NFL was forced to add two more contracts to their salary cap totals. If a team was flirting with the ceiling of the salary cap, the addition of two more contracts may push them above the limit. While that may not have been the case for all of the following teams, these front offices decided to take advantage of the timing to clear up some cap space, according to ESPN’s Field Yates:

  • The 49ers did double-duty, restructuring the contracts of tight end George Kittle and offensive tackle Trent Williams. For Kittle, the team converted $10.57MM of his 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end of the deal, clearing up $8.46MM of cap space. For Williams, San Francisco converted $18.24MM of the left tackle’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, also adding a single void year to the end of the deal. Williams’ adjustment cleared $14.59MM of cap space. The $23.04MM of cap space cleared in the restructures likely had less to do with the Top 51 rule and much more to do with star pass rusher Nick Bosa‘s record-setting extension.
  • The Ravens used the opportunity to adjust star cornerback Marlon Humphrey‘s contract. Baltimore converted $9.42MM of Humphrey’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus and added a single void year to the end of the deal. The adjustment created $7.54MM of cap space for the Ravens.
  • The Seahawks decided to create space by restructuring safety Jamal Adams‘ contract. Seattle converted $9.92MM of Adams’ 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, creating $6.61MM of cap space for the team.
  • The Buccaneers also targeted the contract of a defensive veteran, adjusting the numbers of pass rusher Shaquil Barrett. For Barrett, Tampa Bay converted $13.09MM of his 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end of the contract. The restructure clears up $10.47MM of cap space for the Buccaneers.
  • The Titans also addressed the contract of a pass rusher, restructuring Harold Landry‘s current deal. Tennessee converted $11MM of Landry’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus, clearing up $8.25MM of cap space for the team.
  • The Broncos continue to miss the contributions of wide receiver Tim Patrick, who will once again miss the entire season, but Denver still found some value for him in a contract restructure. The team converted $6MM of Patrick’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus to clear up $3MM of cap space.
  • The Browns created some cap space by restructuring the deal of veteran offensive guard Wyatt Teller. Cleveland converted $11.42MM of Teller’s 2023 base salary into a signing bonus while adding an additional void year to the end his deal in order to create $9.14MM of cap space for the team.

AFC North Notes: Steelers, Jones, Ravens

October 21st, 2022 at 1:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

A bit of a controversy developed in Pittsburgh this week. Mitch Trubisky and Diontae Johnson engaged in a shouting match during halftime of the Steelers-Jets contest, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes, adding that this provided the impetus for Trubisky’s benching. Mike Tomlin did not confirm or deny a shouting match between the quarterback and the team’s highest-paid wideout ensued, though Johnson essentially confirmed a football-related argument took place. But The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly adds the dispute was not the deciding factor in the 16th-year coach moving to Kenny Pickett for the second half of that game. Johnson wanted more targets from Trubisky in that Week 4 game, Dulac adds, leading to the team’s original starter standing up to the fourth-year receiver.

Tomlin benched Trubisky primarily due to his underwhelming performance during the season’s first month, with Kaboly adding he had already decided to go with Pickett. Trubisky sat throughout Week 5 but played well when reinserted into Pittsburgh’s lineup following Pickett’s Week 6 concussion. Despite a bounce-back relief effort against the Buccaneers, Trubisky is set to return to the bench. Pickett cleared concussion protocol Friday and is in line to start against the Dolphins, Tomlin said. Levi Wallace and Pat Freiermuth also cleared the protocol, arming the Steelers with key starters.

Here is the latest from the AFC North:

  • It looks likely Deion Jones will make his Browns debut Sunday. The team held off from activating the recently acquired linebacker from IR last week, giving the longtime Falcons starter more time after designating him for return. Jones is progressing fast in Joe Woods‘ defense, per linebackers coach Jason Tarver (via cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, on Twitter). Tarver said Jones could be in position to wear the green dot, signifying headset communication, in the near future. The Browns, who lost Anthony Walker to a season-ending injury in Week 3, acquired the six-year Atlanta cog for merely a 2024 pick swap.
  • Cleveland will be without multiple Pro Bowlers against Baltimore, however. The Browns ruled out Wyatt Teller and Denzel Ward for their divisional matchup. Teller is battling a calf strain, while Ward will miss a second consecutive game due to a concussion he suffered in Week 5.
  • Ben Powers has operated as the Ravens‘ left guard this season, winning a training camp competition. While 2021 third-round pick Ben Cleveland was nominally in that battle, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic notes the younger Ben in this matchup did not mount a serious push at winning the job opposite Kevin Zeitler. The Ravens have been frustrated with Cleveland’s inability to practice consistently due to injuries, Zrebiec adds. Cleveland missed the first week of training camp due to a failed conditioning test and has missed the past two games due to a foot injury. The Ravens did see Cleveland return to practice Thursday. Cleveland, who started four games last season, has not played an offensive snap this year. Baltimore was holding a three-player competition for the job Powers won. The third entrant, Tyre Phillips, is now with the Giants.

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/20/21

December 20th, 2021 at 10:23pm CST by Ben Levine

A long list of players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. We listed the players who landed on the list today, as well as those who were activated off the list:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: DE John Franklin-Myers, DB Sharrod Neasman

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/19/21

December 19th, 2021 at 10:41am CST by Rory Parks

Given the recent surge of COVID-19 cases throughout the league, we expected to see more roster churning today than we typically would on a December Sunday. Here are today’s minor (and not so minor) moves. This page will, of course, be updated throughout the day:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: G Jon Feliciano
  • Promoted: OL Jacob Capra

Cleveland Browns

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Football Team

Browns Place Eight Players On COVID-19 List

December 14th, 2021 at 12:52pm CST by Zachary Links

The Browns could be seriously shorthanded for Saturday’s game against the Raiders. On Tuesday, the Browns placed wide receiver Jarvis Landry, right guard Wyatt Teller, tight end Austin Hooper, left tackle Jedrick Wills, defensive end Takkarist McKinley and guard Drew Forbes (on IR) on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Meanwhile, tight end Ross Travis and return man JoJo Natson have been placed on the practice squad COVID list. 

[RELATED: Chargers’ Slater Placed On COVID-19 List]

All eight players have tested positive for the virus (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero), putting their availability in doubt. Still, as of this writing, the game is still slated to go ahead as planned on Saturday (Twitter link).

On Monday alone, 36 NFL players — including Chargers tackle Rashawn Slater — were placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list. Since then, the league has issued a memo requiring booster shots for all Tier 1 and 2 staff by Dec. 27. While players are not required to be vaccinated, coaches and trainers fall within Tier 1.

The Browns were already down three players on Sunday, including tight end David Njoku, thanks to the reserve/COVID-19 designation. Despite that, they still managed to beat the Ravens and advance to 7-6 on the year.

Browns Sign OL Wyatt Teller To Four-Year Extension

November 9th, 2021 at 11:00am CST by Ben Levine

Wyatt Teller got himself paid. The Browns signed their starting guard to a four-year extension, reports NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter).

The four-year pact will keep Teller in Cleveland through the 2025 season. The deal is worth $56.8MM ($29MM guaranteed), making him one of the highest-paid offensive guards in the NFL (via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero on Twitter). Teller was originally set to hit free agency following this season.

Teller was a fifth-round pick by the Bills in 2018, but he was traded to the Browns after only one season in Buffalo. Since joining Cleveland, the offensive lineman has started 29 of his 35 appearances. That includes nine starts this season, with Teller appeared in 100 percent of his team’s offensive snaps. Pro Football Focus has been especially fond of his recent performance, grading him as one of the best guards (especially with run blocking) in the NFL (per Garafolo on Twitter).

GM Andrew Berry has been busy investing money and assets into his offensive line since he took on the role. He gave Jack Conklin a $42MM deal, and he selected Jedrick Wills Jr. with the 10th-overall pick in the 2020 draft. Now, Berry can rest easy knowing that he has another foundational piece under contract for the foreseeable future.

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