Browns claim Kellen Mond

  The Cleveland Browns were expected to add a quarterback to the practice squad as their third-string quarterback but the surprise was that they claimed one off the waiver wire as Cleveland claimed Kellen Mond, who was waived by the Minnesota Vikings.

Mond was the Vikings third-round draft pick in 2021 from Texas A&M and while Mond was a mild surprise to be picked in the third round, it's a bigger surprise that the Vikings gave up on Mond after only one season in Minnesota.

Minnesota had traded with Las Vegas to add former Brown Nick Mullens last week for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2023 and it didn't make sense to waive Mullens if they valued him enough to trade for him rather than hope that the Raiders would release him.

Mond threw three passes for the Vikings as a rookie, completing two of them for a total of five yards in a garbage-time appearance against Green Bay.

Here is what I wonder about Mond, as it seems to be a little bit early to give up on a third-rounder only one year after drafting him, did Minnesota see an issue with Mond, which could have been on the field, off the field, or attitude?

That does cover about every possible problem but it seems very odd to waive Mond this soon even with a pedestrian preseason where Mond played in three games, completing 29 of 51 passes, for 303 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

It has been reported that Minnesota had hoped he would clear waivers in order to sign him to their practice squad, so perhaps it wasn't an attitude issue and was an incorrect guess that Mond would have a better chance of getting through the wire than Nick Mullens, although I'm not sure that I would have looked at things the same way.

The 6'3 Mond started all three seasons at Texas A&M, finished with over nine thousand yards passing and fifteen hundred rushing yards, which places Mond among three quarterbacks to keep company at that statistical level.

Mond owns a strong arm and his dual-threat ability as a runner would seem to make him a good fit with the Browns quarterback with his similarity in style and skills with DeShaun Watson, Jacoby Brissett, and Josh Dobbs.

It's unlikely that Kellen Mond plays for the Browns this season in important game-time unless both Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs would suffer an injury but considering his draft status and what how he plays, Mond was an interesting and perhaps even smart signing when you consider the cost (a mere one hundred dollars is the cost to claim a player).

The Browns didn't add a receiver on the wire but most of the pass-catchers that Cleveland could be interested in would be signed through free agency, not waivers.

I am hoping that sometime in the next few days that the Browns try to add someone through free agency.

Cleveland released defensive end Isaac Rochell to make space for Mond and I'm sure will hope that Rochell clears to add him to the practice squad.

Rochell played twelve games for the Colts in 2021 and was signed by the Browns in the off-season.

Only one of the players that the Browns waived on Tuesday was claimed by another team as the San Francisco 49ers added guard Blake Hance.