Browns make over roster with a dozen new players since March 15
Apr. 1—The Browns have been the most active team in the AFC North since the new league year began on March 15, and it isn't even close. Whether the moves made by general manager Andrew Berry can be converted into winning won't be known until the 2023 season ends in January or later.
The Browns signed 11 unrestricted free agents — four on offense and seven on defense — re-signed three players and traded with the Jets to acquire wide receiver Elijah Moore.
The Steelers signed seven free agents and re-signed four players. The Ravens re-signed three players and added only wide receiver Nelson Agholor while they wait to see if another team signs quarterback Lamar Jackson to an offer sheet. The Ravens gave Jackson the non-exclusive franchise tag. If he signs an offer sheet from another team and the Ravens don't match it, Jackson's new team would owe Baltimore two first-round draft picks.
The Bengals signed five players. Their biggest acquisition was signing left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to a four-year, $64.092 million contract. The Bengals also lost safety Jessie Bates III to the Falcons, safety Vonn Bell to the Panthers and tight end Hayden Hurst to the Panthers. They signed tight end Irv Smith Jr. from the Vikings and safety Nick Scott from the Rams.
Here is the breakdown of the Browns free agent additions on defense: Tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, end Ogbo Okoronkwo, linemen Tryston Hill and Maurice Hurst, safety Juan Thornhill, cornerback Mike Ford and linebacker Matthew Adams.
The four free agent additions on offense are guard Wes Martin, quarterback Josh Dobbs, tight end Jordan Akins and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin. The Goodwin signing isn't official yet.
Tight end Ethan Pocic, linebacker Sione Takitaki and linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. were re-signed.
Adding Goodwin and trading their second-round pick (42 overall) for Moore and the 74th overall pick is part of the reset with Deshaun Watson getting a full season as the Browns' starting quarterback.
"Excited about the offseason," Coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters at the league meetings. "Excited about Deshaun obviously getting some work in now with some of our guys and then he'll be back up in April to start that (offseason) program. But I think overall we're just excited about the opportunity we have."
Moore is 5-foot-10, 178 pounds. Goodwin is 5-foot-9, 180 pounds. They have different playing styles than 6-foot-1 Amari Cooper and 6-foot-2 Donovan Peoples Jones. Moore and Goodwin rely on their speed and quickness to get open.
"They really do have different strengths, " Berry said. "Although maybe people look at it on face value saying, 'Hey, here are these undersized guys that ran really well coming out (of college).' Their games are a little bit different.
"Elijah's a little bit more of your inside-outside separator. Really good hands, really good route runner. Marquis, despite his age (32), he's still one of the fastest players on the perimeter in football. So, not to typecast either of them, but we really do see them as having maybe a little bit of a different function in the offense when we get to the fall."
Goodwin caught 57 passes with the 49ers in 2017. Since then his best season was 2022 when he caught 27 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns with the Seahawks. He played in 13 games and started two last season.
Moore turned 23 on March 27. He caught 43 passes for 538 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. Last season his numbers dipped to 37/446/1, even though he played in 16 games in 2022 compared to 11 in 2021.
The three other teams in the AFC North finished ahead of Cleveland in 2022. The Browns were last in the division at 7-10. The Bengals won the division at 12-4 followed by the Ravens at 10-7 and the Steeles at 9-8.
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