This of course meant that five players that made the "final" roster would have to go and we'll discuss that along with a few Browns released on Saturday that found new life in new places the day after leaving Cleveland.
I'll begin with the five new players that arrived in Cleveland with the biggest name and flashiest claim was Kasen Williams,a wide receiver from Seattle.
Williams exploded on the scene this preseason with spectacular catches and led the NFC in receiving in the preseason,but has just one catch in regular season.
There is more to Williams though as I really liked him at Washington with the Huskies,where he was dynamite before breaking his leg as a junior and he never recovered in his senior season,which was less than sterling.
Seattle's Richard Sherman was furious on Twitter after Williams was released,so I think there could be something to that as well in grading Williams as a possible upgrade.
Williams was one of the two receivers that I really wanted to claim (the other was Austin Carr was claimed by the Saints,where I'll still get to see a lot with Drew Brees),so I'm pretty happy about the addition,although it's tempered a little because only occasionally do these additions really turn out to be a steal.
I might have been able to hide some disappointment in not claiming Austin Carr,if the Browns had not claimed any other receivers,but they did in Reggie Davis from the Falcons.
Davis wasn't great at Georgia (38 catches in 48 games as a Bulldog) and wasn't drafted,but has plus speed and can return kicks,so that must have been the attraction...
To my surprise,the Browns claimed a quarterback as Josh Woodrum was added after a preseason in Baltimore that saw him throw for 321 yards,two touchdowns and no interceptions.
The former Liberty passer has bounced through camps over the last two seasons,so I'm not sure that Woodrum makes it through the week as I just don't see the Browns carrying four quarterbacks.
This seems to me to be a case of looking at a guy to see if he might be better than either Cody Kessler or Kevin Hogan and if not,he'll be gone as soon as next weeks end as I cannot believe the Browns will keep all four passers.
I was hoping that the Browns would keep one of the players below,but the defensive lineman brought in is intriguing as T.Y,McGill was claimed from the Colts.
McGill played the last two years there and had five sacks (one for a safety) with 15 quarterback pressures-In other words,McGill provides that rarest of talent from a defensive lineman-A tackle that possesses the ability to push the pocket back up the middle.
The final addition is former Rams cornerback Michael Jordan,who started a few games late season under Gregg Williams after being signed as an undrafted free agent.
Jordan has nice size at 6'1 and knows the defense,so perhaps he can help the Browns secondary...
The waived players have various degrees of interest to me and a few are mild losses.
The top loss to me was defensive end Tyrone Holmes,who was claimed last season around the same time.
Holmes had one sack in 2016,but had two sacks in preseason and I think that Holmes can provide some pass rush as a 4-3 end.
I also also liked wide receiver Rashard Higgins when he was a fifth rounder from Colorado State last season,but I never felt that he was given a fair shot to get on the field with six catches last season.
I think Higgins could have been a solid possession receiver,but it's unlikely to be as a Brown unless he clears waivers where he is likely to be added to the practice squad.
Three players left from the secondary as corners Darius Hillary and Marcus Burley and rookie safety Kai Nacua were waived.
Nacua played well as a rookie from BYU and I wish that he would have made the team,but I can understand why he was waived with the Browns keeping four other safeties (Derrick Kindred,Calvin Pryor,Jabrill Peppers and Ibrahiem Campbell).
Three former Browns were claimed/signed as Brock Osweiler returned to the Broncos as a free agent,defensive tackle Xavier Cooper was claimed by the 49ers and kicker Cody Parkey was claimed by the Dolphins.
Osweiler knows the Broncos and their system,so if he can be rehabilitated,its in Denver.
Cooper might help the San Francisco D-line as he ran into the numbers game in Cleveland.
Cody Parkey is a solid kicker and his battle with Zane Gonzalez for the kicking job was so close that I think that had the Browns kept Parkey instead of Gonzalez,very few would have had anything to say about that decision...
Editors Note:Tackle Rod Johnson was placed on injured reserve.
The fifth round selection from Florida State was injured in the final preseason game against the Bears.
Cleveland claimed tackle Zach Barron off waivers from the Colts to replace Johnson on the roster.
Barron was taken by Indianapolis in the fourth round this draft and is a 6'8 360 pound tackle from USC....
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