Cornerback Kahlef Hailassie will be coming to Cleveland after the claim and the Browns made space on the roster by releasing fellow corner A.J. Green.
Hailassie is an undrafted rookie from Western Kentucky, where he intercepted four passes in two seasons with the Hilltoppers.
Hailassie intercepted one pass and finished with six tackles in the preseason and a clip shows Hailassie making an excellent play in breaking up a pass to the Browns top draft pick, Cedric Tillman in Cleveland's road game against the Chiefs last week.
A.J. Green signed a sizable undrafted free agent contract after the 2020 draft from Oklahoma State and started twice for the Browns in three seasons.
Green intercepted one pass in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons and is a valuable player on the special teams unit, so the Browns must have seen something that impressed them greatly from Hailassie to allow Green to walk away.
Green was due to make 1.4 million this season and would have been an unrestricted free agent after the season while Hailassie will make $750,000, so it could have been that the Browns looked at the two as similar players and chose the cheaper player with three seasons of control rather than a more expensive one with one season.
Cleveland also filled the practice squad after the waiver wire was cleared with several players that they released the previous day with a few interesting players that attended other training camps.
Cleveland was able to retain both wide receivers who had impressed in camp but were caught up in the numbers game as Austin Watkins and Jaylen Darden returned to the practice squad.
The Browns also brought back offensive lineman Michael Dunn, who is expected to be a key backup, and defensive linemen Maurice Hurst and Trysten Hill, both of whom were signed in the offseason as reclamation projects, and showed enough to stick around as possible rotational players once injuries begin to pile up.
Defensive end Isaiah Thomas was signed after clearing waivers so the 2022 seventh-rounder can continue to develop on the practice squad.
Thomas had one sack last season but suffered a knee injury in the Hall of Fame game against the Jets that caused him to miss the remainder of training camp, which hurt his chances of making the team.
Kicker Cade York had been noted as a possibility to return as the Browns said all the right things about York's potential and perhaps they really did want York to come back but once waivers are cleared it becomes the player's choice and York chose to join the Tennessee Titans practice squad.
I think the Browns figured York wasn't interested in re-joining the team, said the right thing on his way out of town, and losing York on waivers or afterward was likely when they agreed to the trade with the Chargers with Dustin Hopkins.
I had hoped the Browns would have a semi-proven kicker available behind Dustin Hopkins, considering his injury history of late but that didn't happen as the team signed kicker Lucas Havrisik.
Havrisik spent last season on the Colts practice squad and was in the Indianapolis training camp this season but lost the competition to former Ram Matt Gay.
I'm more than a little uneasy with the situation with Hopkins's injuries and yet another untested kicker as his replacement but the Browns knew this situation could happen and preferred it to gambling on Cade York.
Cleveland also added offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood, a former first-round draft pick from only two years ago from Alabama.
Leatherwood was taken by the Raiders seventeenth overall in 2021 after he won the Outland and Jacobs trophy in 2020 for the Crimson Tide but his struggles at tackle were so severe that the Raiders moved him to guard and he started every game for the 2021 Raiders
Las Vegas released Leatherwood after training camp in 2022 and he was claimed by the Bears where he would play four games last season but was released in the final cutdown this week.
Leatherwood is still only 24 and with one of the best offensive line coaches in the league in Bill Callahan, Leatherwood is definitely worth a flyer as Bill Callahan's work with Tyrone Wheatley Jr. turned a player who had never played the position into a player that was a trade chip for Pierre Strong.
Cleveland was expected to bring back Kellen Mond as the third quarterback after waiving him but instead signed P.J.Walker, which to me made sense to have a player with experience around since the Browns' other quarterback will be rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Walker starred in the XFL for the Houston Roughnecks in its 2020 Covid-shortened season and would play for the Carolina Panthers for the last three seasons, playing in fifteen games, starting seven of them.
Walker made five starts last season for the Panthers, winning two of them while throwing three touchdowns and three interceptions, and left in free agency to sign with the Bears where he was beaten out by Shepherd rookie Tyson Bagent for the backup spot behind Justin Fields.
I like having someone with a little experience behind DeShaun Watson and in the quarterback room with Dorian Thompson-Robinson as a tutor of sorts, so I actually think the Browns upgraded with P.J. Walker over Kellen Mond.
The Browns aren't likely to make any other personnel moves, so this is the team that should take the field in the opener against the Bengals, barring any injuries in practice.
Now, we wait to see just how good this team will be in a season that so many jobs could be at stake.
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