Let's start with the newest Brown as Cleveland made its latest attempt to find someone to solve the problems in returning kicks and punts that have existed since Josh Cribbs left town and maybe this time, they may have gotten it right as the Browns signed wide receiver/ return man Jakeem Grant from the Chicago Bears with a three-year contract worth just under fourteen million dollars.
Grant made his first Pro Bowl last season after playing a few games for Miami before being traded to Chicago, averaging twenty-three yards per kick return and just under twelve yards per punt return with one punt returned for a touchdown.
Grant was Miami's sixth-round selection in 2016 out of Texas Tech and spent his entire career in Miami before the midseason trade that saw the Bears send the Dolphins a 2023 sixth-round draft pick.
Grant has also seen action occasionally at wide receiver, finishing this season with eleven catches and 132 yards with two touchdowns.
Grant will hopefully be able to solve the problem that has existed for quite a while.
The Browns announced that they will be releasing tight end Austin Hooper with a post-June 1 designation in order to roll some of the cap hit over two seasons rather than one.
By holding onto Hooper until June, the Browns will be able to save nine million of Hooper's cap number after his release.
Hooper was a highly touted signing in 2020 after Hooper had made the Pro Bowl in both 2018 and 2019 with over seventy catches in each season and the Browns signed him to a four-year contract that seemed to have solidified tight end in the Kevin Stefanski offense.
But Hooper struggled in Cleveland with "chemistry" with Baker Mayfield and developed an alarming tendency to fall down as soon as he caught the football, finishing with a low in receiving numbers that hadn't been seen since Hooper's rookie season.
Hooper caught only 38 passes for 345 yards and only three touchdowns and with his disappointing numbers and needing to give David Njoku a raise, it was a foregone conclusion that Hooper was likely to be a cap casualty.
The Browns re-signed two players, one of those a starter as linebacker Anthony Walker and tackle Chris Hubbard each returned to the Browns.
Anthony Walker signed with the Browns last season after leaving the Colts on a one-year contract and is returning on another one-year contract worth five million dollars.
The twenty-six-year-old Walker was a solid if unspectacular player who started twelve of the thirteen games that he played in 2021.
Walker finished the season with 69 solo tackles and a sack and is expected to be in the middle with Jeremiah Owusu-Koaramoah and Jacob Phillips on each side of him.
The other transaction was the Browns retaining 30-year-old veteran offensive lineman Chris Hubbard with a one-year deal for an undisclosed amount.
The veteran can play guard or tackle and was injured for the season in the opener against Kansas City after suffering a triceps injury.
Hubbard is expected to provide depth at both offensive line positions.
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