The Cleveland Browns and punter Britton Colquitt have agreed to terms on a four-year deal.
Colquitt, an undrafted free agent from Tennessee in 2009, averaged 45.3 yards per punt for the Browns after being cut by the Denver Broncos.
With Colquitt now in the fold and Isaiah Crowell tendered earlier on Tuesday, only Austin Pasztor and Terrelle Pryor remain unsigned.
The Cleveland Browns have offered running back Isaiah Crowell a second-round tender worth $2.81 million according to multiple sources.
Crowell, who was undrafted, is a restricted free agent. By receiving a second-round tender the Browns can now match any offer he receives or get a second round draft pick from that team if they choose not to match the offer.
Crowell had his best season in 2016 despite not getting more than 10 carries in six games. He finished with 952 yards while carrying the bulk of the load for the 1-15 Browns.
*This is part six of a 10 part series where we will take a look at the Cleveland Browns options for the elusive quarterback of the future.
Name: Deshaun Watson
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 210 pounds
Throws: Right
School: Clemson
NFL Team: N/A
Draft Spot or Projection: Mid Round 1-Late Round 2
Strengths: Throws a catchable ball…can make all the necessary throws…has enough arm strength but won’t wow anyone…accuracy is solid…EXCELLENT character…great teammate…TRUE leader…average pocket presence…mobile….can be dual threat, but more of a pocket guy…confident in his abilities…hard worker…winner…comes into the draft with a lot of upside…plays it cool in the biggest moments…has incredible and unteachable intangibles…
Weaknesses: Needs to get bigger but think he has frame to add 20 pounds…ball placement is a big problem and led to many ball security (interceptions) issues even when his man won the one on one matchup…inaccurate at times…footwork needs to improve, throws high a lot…needs to work through his progressions better…stares down primary option…like many college kids has little experience under center…
Summary: Watson’s intangibles are off of the charts. He is a true leader who commands his huddle and can will his team to victory. Love his upside but there are many things he needs to work on. If he can improve his footwork and adjust to an NFL offense and being under center, he can continue winning at the next level. He will also need to add some weight. Overall, he is a coaches dream, as long as that coach wants to teach him and work with him a lot before sending him onto the field.
Up Next: Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer
Previously: Texas Tech QB Pat Mahomes
The Cleveland Browns released wide receiver and fan favorite Andrew Hawkins on Monday. The move comes after the veteran reciever asked the team for his release so that he could move on and possibly get a championship before his career ends.
At 30-years-old, Hawkins served as a mentor for the young players on the Browns roster and was an all around great guy on and off of the field. Over three seasons Hawkins started 28 games and brought in 123 catches for 1424 yards and five touchdowns.
In typical Hawkins fashion, he left an extremely classy message to the fans and the organization on UNINTERRUPTED‘s twitter feed, “As of today, I am officially a former Cleveland Brown. Flew to Cleveland last week, met with the team. It was a tough call, but at the end of the day, just felt it was in the best interest of all that we move on.”
Browns head coach Hue Jackson also weighed in on the termination of Hawkins’ contract in a statement released by the team;
It’s tough to say goodbye to men like Hawk, that have done everything you’ve asked of them and gone above and beyond when it comes to leadership. Hawk was a rock for us last season.He kept our locker room together and led by example as he gave everything he had on the field.Our young players are going to be better players and better people because of the time they spent with Andrew Hawkins.
The loss of Hawkins leaves the Browns extremely young at the wide receiver position with second-year guys Corey Coleman, Rashard Higgins, Jordan Payton, and Ricardo Louis as the only pass catchers currently signed to the roster as the team attempts to bring back Terrelle Pryor this offseason.
Over the next few weeks here at OrangeandBrown365.com, I will be ranking the Browns best players in a few different groups. The best place to start of course is at the most talked about position, quarterback.
Since 1999, 26 different guys have started a game under center for the orange and brown. Many of them were terrible, some were decent, some were serviceable, but none were great. That is why this list was so hard to come up with and also why there have been 26 different names to choose from.
Without further delay, the number five quarterback for the Cleveland Browns is….
Josh McCown
McCown came to the Browns in February of 2015 after signing a three-year deal with then general manager Ray Farmer.
It was believed by many that McCown would come in and start and allow the Browns to slowly bring along 2014 first round pick Johnny Manziel. McCown was also the perfect guy to mentor the former Heisman Trophy winner. By May of 2015, McCown was named the starter.
In his first game as starter, the gritty and gutsy McCown was knocked out of the game when he dove head first into the endzone and was sent into a helicopter spin by then Jets, and now Browns, linebacker Demario Davis. He missed the next week with a concussion before returning to the lineup in week three when he threw for over 340 yards in a 27-20 loss to the Oakland Raiders. In all, McCown started eight games for the Browns in 2015. He started three more in 2016. His record in those eleven games was 1-10.
In 13 total games in the orange helmet, McCown threw for 3209 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Over two drama filled seasons with the Browns, McCown was a consummate professional. He was a stand up guy on and off of the field and had some of the highest yardage games of any quarterback the team has had since 1999. Though his record with the team will show just one win, he comes in at number five on this list for the way he played on the field and the way he handled all of the drama around the franchise. McCown is the blue-collar type of player that fans in Cleveland can relate to and love to watch play.
The Browns released him on February 7, 2017. Before doing so, head coach Hue Jackson did extend an invite to McCown to become part of the coaching staff. The 37-year-old journeyman declined and is now a free agent.
Up Next: Number 4 Kelly Holcomb
After years of letting talent get away, the Cleveland Browns most recent front office said that they would make sure they would not let that trend continue. So far this offseason, they’ve kept their word.
After re-signing linebacker Jamie Collins, the Browns have agreed to a six-year deal with longsnapper Charlie Hughlett, that according to his agent makes him the highest paid long snapper in the NFL:
The 6’4″, 248 pound, Hughlett is in second season with the Browns after being undrafted out of Central Florida.
If there is any indication of how good Hughlett has been as a long snapper, just ask Browns fans who he is. The fact that seven out of nine people I spoke with tonight were clueless as to who he was means he has done a very good job.
***Dawg Biscuits is a daily rundown of thoughts, news, and opinions on the Cleveland Browns***
*This is part five of a 10 part series where we will take a look at the Cleveland Browns options for the elusive quarterback of the future.
Name: Patrick Mahomes II
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 215 pounds
Throws: Right
School: Texas Tech
NFL Team: N/A
Draft Spot or Projection: Round 1-2
strengths: Incredible arm talent…shows great touch…possibly the strongest arm in the draft…accuracy has gotten better from his freshman year until now…great improvisation…stays in pocket even as things break down…delivers the ball from so many angles, but always with elite velocity behind it…probably the most fun quarterback to watch in 2017 draft…shows on field swagger…has unbelievable belief in his arm…can squeeze the ball into the tightest of windows, even with strange-looking mechanics at times…always looks for the big play…athletic…has everything you want in a quarterback that is absolutely uncoachable…
Weaknesses: Tendency to trust his arm too much…holds on to the ball while looking for the big play too often…comes from an air raid offense…needs to improve anticipation…mechanics go absolutely terrible at times, but with him it is a gift and a curse…may take a few years to fully develop while making his head coach go nuts…
Summary: Mahomes is a joy to watch. He could be the biggest value at quarterback in this draft because the sky is the ceiling if everything falls into place for this talented kid. He is either going to be Jay Cutler with Johnny Manziel’s improvisation ability or he will be the next Brett Favre.
Up Next: Clemson QB Deshaun Watson
Previously: North Carolina QB Mitch Trubisky
*This is part four of a 10 part series where we will take a look at the Cleveland Browns options for the elusive quarterback of the future.
Name: Mitch Trubisky
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 220 pounds
Throws: Right
School: North Carolina
NFL Team: N/A
Draft Spot or Projection: Top 15 overall
strengths: Very accurate…throws a catchable ball…shows great anticipation…leader on the field and off…athletic and will surprise people at combine…throws with a strong base…solid mechanics…good velocity…great on short to intermediate routes, decent deep ball…goes through progressions well…looks off safety well…shows above average pocket presence, especially given minimal playing time…will only get better as he plays more…extremely coachable and smart, a true football loving gym rat.
Weaknesses: May not be as big as listed, want to see how tall he truly is at combine…velocity looks good on tape, need to see how hard he actually throws at combine. I like to see 56 mph or above from an elite QB prospect…has tendency to throw off back foot at times when rush in his face…limited playing time in college…
Summary: Trubisky looks the part of an elite quarterback prospect. The limited playing time does have me worried some, but the playing time he did have shows a quarterback with little weaknesses in his game. His ceiling might not be as high as some, but he is the safest of all of the quarterbacks in the 2017 draft and at worst will be an Andy Dalton or Alex Smith type quarterback.
Up Next: Texas Tech QB Pat Mahomes
Previously: Buffalo Bills QB Tyrod Taylor
*This is part three of a 10 part series where we will take a look at the Cleveland Browns options for the elusive quarterback of the future.
Name: Tyrod Taylor
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 215 pounds
Throws: Right
School: Virginia Tech
Draft Spot or Projection: 6th Round 180th overall (2011)
Strenghths: Taylor is accurate…shows good anticipation…excellent movement in the pocket…keeps his eyes upfield while navigating the blitz…above average arm strength…solid velocity…a great competitor who feeds off of others doubting his abilities…believes in his abilities 110%…leader…hard worker…gym rat…extremely smart…athletic…
Weaknesses: Lacks NFL size…gets a lot of balls batted down at the line, but did improve on that during his second season as a starter…can telegraph throws at times…may believe too much in his abilities at times and will force throws…
Summary: If the Bills decide to cut Taylor because they owe him at least $27.5 million, teams will likely be all over the former Bills and Ravens quarterback. While he isn’t a top 10 guy, he is good enough to lead a team into the playoffs, but will only get as far as the talent around him will allow him.
Up Next: North Carolina QB Mitch Trubisky
Previously: Bengals QB AJ McCarron
***Dawg Biscuits is a daily rundown of thoughts, news, and opinions on the Cleveland Browns.***
*This is part two of a 10 part series where we will look at the Cleveland Browns options for the elusive quarterback of the future.
Name: AJ McCarron
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 22o pounds
Throws: Right
School: Alabama
NFL Team: Cincinnati Bengals
Draft Spot or Projection: 5th round, 164th overall (2014)
Strengths: Good size for an NFL QB…big hands…played in a pro style offense and makes NFL caliber reads…goes through progressions well…good short to intermediate accuracy in the pocket and also accurate while on the move…above average mechanics with smooth throwing motion…used to being under center from college offense…above average arm strength…takes care of the ball…smart…a leader on the field…prepares well.
Weaknesses: Struggles with the deep ball…not overly athletic…does not drive the ball at times, causing his receives to adjust a lot of times, putting them in awkward situations…had an amazing NFL caliber team around him in college, hard to tell how much was him and how much was the talent around him as far as wins and production…
Summary: When I wrote my original scouting report on McCarron I was stuck on how good his supporting cast was. Watching just McCarron’s mechanics and the way he works in the pocket, you can see a guy who has talent but is also a big product of the guys around him. In the NFL he can be an average starter, but will only get as far as the talent around him can help him.
Up next Part Three: Bills QB Tyrod Taylor
Part one: Jimmy Garoppolo
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