As NFL teams prepare to pare down their rosters to 53 players, the Patriots and Browns have exchanged two players who weren’t likely to make their previous teams but may make their new teams. Running back Pierre Strong Jr. is on the way to Cleveland and offensive tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr. is on the way to New England after the Browns and Patriots agreed to a trade today. The Patriots selected Strong in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft. He played mostly on special teams as a rookie. Wheatley spent last season on the Browns’ practice squad but has never played in a regular-season NFL game. He is the son of Tyrone Wheatley, the former Giants first-round draft pick who spent last year as the Broncos’ running backs coach and was hired this year as the head coach at Wayne State. NBC
FYI, I can't rule out the possibility of Harrison Bryant and/or Nick Harris being traded prior 4:00pm on Tuesday.
Oops! Brain fart alert !!!! I had Marquise Goodwin on I/R. He was only on the NFI list and has rejoined the team. I'll have to revisit the final 53 and repost it tomorrow
We have a new Kicker !!! (allegedly) Obtained Dustin Hopkins in a trade with the Chargers (LAC gets future draft pick - not certain on the year/round). Cade York will soon be released.
Cleveland has addressed its kicker problem. After a rough preseason from 2022 fourth-round pick Cade York, the Browns have acquired Dustin Hopkins from the Chargers, according to multiple reports. Cleveland will send L.A. a 2025 seventh-round pick to complete the trade. York will be waived, per multiple reports, making Hopkins the team’s kicker immediately. Hopkins lost Los Angeles’ kicking job to Cameron Dicker. But Hopkins was 2-of-2 on field goals and 3-of-3 on extra points during the preseason. After joining the Chargers in 2021, Hopkins kept the job entering 2022 but suffered a hamstring injury in October. He missed the rest of the season. Before the injury, Hopkins was 9-of-10 on field goals, 12-of-12 on extra points, and sent 90 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks. Hopkins, 32, was Washington’s kicker from 2015-2021. He’s hit 85 percent of his career field goals and 94 percent of his extra points. York connected on a 58-yard field goal to win Cleveland’s season-opener against Carolina last year. But he finished the season just 24-of-32 on his field goals and missed a pair of extra points. While York has looked good in practice by all accounts, he was just 4-of-8 on his field goals this preseason — and those are the ones that counted. He also missed an extra point during Saturday’s preseason finale against the Chiefs that was wiped out by a penalty. NBC
Earlier today the Browns social media department issued a Happy Birthday to OG Dunn, he was shortly there after, cut, wow.
Be careful what you wish for.. Last season at Cleveland Stadium Cade York was 11-18 on FG attempts, he was 13-14 everywhere else.... He missed 2 of 37 PAT attempts, both at Cleveland Stadium. Dustin Hopkins has only kicked in Cleveland Stadium once in his career, he hasn't missed a FG yet!! Full disclosure, he hasn't attempted a FG... he is 2-3 in PAT attempts....So he begins his career kicking 66% in Cleveland. Kicking in Cleveland is a very different animal no kicker has mastered besides the great Phil Dawson.
Don't take that the wrong way... After preseason, I definitely wanted to move on from Cade York... We just need to understand, the grass may not be greener on the other side of this trade and cut. Also... Don't be surprised if Cade York goes to a team that plays in a dome and goes on to become one of the best kickers ever. Bottom line, he couldn't figure out Cleveland, so we need to find someone that can or build a dome.
Browns’ initial 53-man roster by position: Quarterbacks (2): Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Deshaun Watson Running backs (3): Nick Chubb, Jerome Ford, Pierre Strong Jr. Wide receivers (6): David Bell, Amari Cooper, Marquise Goodwin, Elijah Moore, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cedric Tillman Tight ends (3): Jordan Akins, Harrison Bryant, David Njoku Offensive linemen (9): Joel Bitonio, Jack Conklin, Nick Harris, James Hudson III, Dawand Jones, Ethan Pocic Wyatt Teller, Jedrick Wills Jr., Luke Wypler Defensive linemen (9): Jordan Elliott, Myles Garrett, Shelby Harris, Siaki Ika, Isaiah McGuire, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Za’Darius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson, Alex Wright Linebackers (7): Matthew Adams, Mohamoud Diabate, Tony Fields II, Jordan Kunaszyk, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Sione Takitaki, Anthony Walker Jr. Defensive backs (11): D’Anthony Bell, Grant Delpit, M.J. Emerson Jr., Mike Ford Jr., A.J. Green, Ronnie Hickman, Rodney McLeod, Cameron Mitchell, Greg Newsome II, Juan Thornhill, Denzel Ward Specialists (3): Corey Bojorquez, Dustin Hopkins, Charley Hughlett
The Browns have claimed CB Kahlef Hailassie via waivers from Kansas City. To make room on the roster the team waived CB A.J. Green III. The team has also signed CB Lorenzo Burns, WR Jaelon Darden, G Michaell Dunn, RB Hassan Hall, DT Trysten Hill, DE Sam Kamara, S Tanner McCalister, TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden, DE Lonnie Phelps, LB Charlie Thomas III, DE Isaiah Thomas and WR Austin Watkins to the practice squad. All 12 of the players were with the Browns in training camp this year. In addition, the team has agreed to terms with K Lucas Havrisik, T Alex Leatherwood, QB P.J. Walker to their practice squad. Hailassie is a 6-1, 195-pound rookie out of Western Kentucky. He was signed by the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent and recorded one interception during the preseason. Havrisik (6-2, 190) is officially in his first NFL season out of Arizona. He spent time on the Colts' practice squad in 2022 and spent training camp in Indianapolis this season. Leatherwood (6-5, 315) is in his third NFL season out of Alabama. Originally a first-round pick by the Raiders in 2021, Leatherwood has appeared in 21 career games with 17 starts between the Raiders (2021) and Bears (2022). Walker (5-11, 215) is officially in his fourth NFL season out of Temple. Originally signed by the Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2017, he spent time on the Colts' practice squad from 2017-19 and with XFL's Houston Roughneck's in 2019, before joining the Panthers in 2020. During his time in Carolina, he appeared in 15 games with seven starts. Walker completed 131 of 228 passes for 1,461 yards and five touchdowns. He spent training camp this year with the Bears.
