Source: Browns to release Osweiler
QB is guaranteed $16M from Cleveland
CLEVELAND - Brock Osweiler’s days with the Browns were numbered when the quarterback arrived in a trade. They’re now over. Osweiler is being released by Cleveland, which will have to pay his $16 million guaranteed contract not to have him on their roster, a person familiar with the team’s moves told The Associated Press on Friday.
Osweiler will be officially cut on Saturday along with veteran guard John Greco, kicker Cody Parkey and defensive lineman Xavier Cooper when the team trims its roster to 53 on Saturday, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team is still finalizing its roster decisions.
The 26-year-old Osweiler was acquired by the Browns on March 9 from Houston for a 2018 second-round draft pick. The team did not have any longterm plans for Osweiler, who went 8-6 as a starter for the Texans last season. However, because of his large contract, the Browns were unable to unload Osweiler and he competed for their starting job this summer.
Osweiler was beaten out by rookie DeShone Kizer, who will be the 27th starting quarterback for Cleveland since 1999 when the team opens against Pittsburgh on Sept. 10.
On a conference call earlier in the day, Browns coach Hue Jackson said the team had not made any decision on Osweiler.
“We will think about that as we go,” Jackson said when asked if the team will add a veteran QB if Osweiler is cut. “I just think when it is all said and done, you have to make sure you keep the best players that you feel that can help you win. Experience is important, but at the same time, I think talent level and where we are and what we are trying to accomplish is important, too.”
With Osweiler leaving, it appears the Browns will also keep quarterbacks Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan behind Kizer.
Parkey lost his job to rookie Zane Gonzalez, a seventh-round draft pick. Gonazlez may have sealed Parkey’s fate when he connected on a 53-yard field goal in Thursday’s exhibition win at Chicago.
Parkey joined the Browns in Week 3 last season after Patrick Murray injured his knee in practice. Parkey missed three of six field-goals in his debut — he only met his holder and snapper in pregame warmups — but recover to make 17 of his next 19 attempts.
Greco spent six seasons with Cleveland, joining the team in 2012 after spending three seasons with St. Louis. The well-respected 32-year-old made 66 starts for the Browns. He missed the final four games last season after tearing a foot ligament and undergoing surgery.
Cooper was drafted by the Browns in the third round in 2015. He started two games last season.
NFL: Goodell aware of dissent before suspending Elliott:
The NFL says Commissioner Roger Goodell was aware of one of his lead investigator’s view that Ezekiel Elliott shouldn’t be disciplined before the Dallas running back was suspended for six games in a domestic violence case.
League spokesman Brian McCarthy on Friday disputed a key claim in a lawsuit filed by the players’ union on behalf of Elliott seeking to vacate an upcoming ruling on an appeal. McCarthy says Goodell knew of investigator Kia Roberts’ belief that Elliott’s accuser wasn’t credible before deciding to suspend Elliott.
Arbitrator Harold Henderson is expected to rule on Elliott’s appeal soon. The lawsuit filed late Thursday night in federal court in Texas seeks to pre-empt Henderson’s ruling with the intent of making Elliott eligible to play in the season opener Sept. 10 against the New York Giants.
Elliott, the NFL’s 2016 rushing leader as a rookie, was suspended after the league concluded he used physical force last summer in Ohio against Tiffany Thompson, his girlfriend at the time. Prosecutors didn’t pursue the case, citing conflicting evidence. Elliott denied the allegations under oath in the appeal hearing, according to the lawsuit.
Seahawks get Richardson from Jets for Kearse:
The Seattle Seahawks have made a big splash for their top-notch defense just before the start of the regular season.
The Seahawks acquired defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson from the New York Jets on Friday in exchange for wide receiver Jermaine Kearse and a second-round draft pick, bolstering a defense that was already considered among the best in the NFL.
Seattle will also send a 2018 secondround pick to the Jets and the clubs will swap seventh-round picks in 2018 as part of the deal.
It’s clear Seattle believes it is a championship contender and Richardson is one of the pieces that could put them over the top.
Landing Richardson solidifies the interior of Seattle’s defensive line and quells some of the concerns raised by the uncertainty surrounding rookie secondround draft pick Malik McDowell, who was injured in a July ATV accident. Richardson has spent his entire career with the Jets after being picked in the first-round pick in 2013 and was a Pro Bowl selection after the 2014 season, when he recorded a career-high eight sacks.
Richardson was a standout for the Jets — although he had a disappointing 2016 season — but seemed to outlast his welcome in New York. Most recently, Jets coach Todd Bowles expressed his displeasure with Richardson’s comments last month accusing former teammate Brandon Marshall of quitting on the team last season.
But Richardson can be a dominant interior lineman and joins one of the best defenses in the NFL. Seattle already has Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Frank Clark as anchors and now adds an interior talent with the proven ability to stop the run and be a presence as a pass rusher. The addition of Richardson means eight of the 11 projected starters on defense have been voted to at least one Pro Bowl in their careers.
Richardson is entering the final year of his rookie deal and had played well during the preseason.
Kearse was a polarizing figure among fans but one of the most consistent wide receivers during Pete Carroll’s tenure in Seattle. Kearse’s best season was 2015 when he had 49 receptions and five touchdowns in the regular season. He also had some of the more famous catches in franchise history, including a fourth-down touchdown in the 2013 NFC championship game, the winning TD catch in overtime of the 2014 NFC title game and a juggling catch late in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl against New England that would have far different context if not for Malcolm Butler’s interception that followed.
Kearse signed a $13.5 million, threeyear deal with the Seahawks before the 2016 season but became expendable because of Seattle’s depth at wide receiver. He’ll immediately become a primary target with a Jets team in desperate need of experienced pass receiving options. The Jets lost No. 1 wide receiver Quincy Enunwa for the season due to a neck injury early in training camp.
After Enunwa, the Jets’ most-experienced receiver was Marquess Wilson, who had 56 career catches for 777 yards and three touchdowns in four seasons in Chicago. Next is second-year receiver Robby Anderson, who made the team last summer after being an undrafted free agent and finished with 42 catches for 587 yards and two scores.
Kearse immediately becomes the most accomplished receiver on the Jets roster.
The boys are back; Steelers’ Bryant & Bell OK to play Week 1:
Martavis Bryant’s long journey back to the NFL is over. So is Le’Veon Bell’s extended vacation.
Two of the most dynamic components of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ high-powered offense are good to go as the season opener approaches.
The NFL on Friday granted Bryant permission to play when the Steelers travel to Cleveland on Sept. 10, nearly 18 months after he was suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Bryant was conditionally reinstated in April, though his return hit a snag at the start of training camp when he was forced to sit for the first two weeks of practice due to procedural issues. Bryant caught seven passes for 43 yards during the preseason and is expected to start opposite Antonio Brown for the defending AFC North champions.
The Steelers placed the franchise tag on Bell in February. The two-time Pro Bowler responded by skipping Pittsburgh’s offseason program and stayed away during training camp after failing to reach agreement on a long-term deal. Bell tweeted last week that he planned on returning on Sept. 1, and he appeared at the team’s facility on Friday, just hours after the Steelers wrapped up the preseason with a victory in Carolina.
Bell passed a team physical and is expected to sign his franchise tender of $12.1 million before the team returns to practice on Monday. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said there would be consequences for Bell’s absence, though technically Bell did not hold out because he was not under contract.
Martin cut, Catanzaro wins Jets’ competition at kicker:
Chandler Catanzaro has won the New York Jets’ competition at kicker after Ross Martin was among 10 players cut by the team.
Catanzaro signed a one-year, $900,000 deal with the Jets in March and was in a closely contested battle with Martin. Catanzaro, who spent his first three seasons with Arizona, was 2 of 3 on field goal attempts in the preseason. Martin, who was in his second camp with New York, went 4 of 5.
Also released by the Jets on Friday: wide receivers Chris Harper and Myles White, offensive linemen Jeff Adams and Craig Watts, tight end Brandon Barnes, defensive lineman Jeremy Faulk, linebacker Spencer Paysinger, and defensive backs Armagedon Draughn and David Rivers.
49ers release Barkley after Beathard wins backup QB role:
The San Francisco 49ers have released quarterback Matt Barkley.
The move Friday clears the way for rookie C.J. Beathard to open the season as the backup to Brian Hoyer. The Niners had been debating whether to keep two or three quarterbacks but opted for only two after a successful preseason for Beathard.
San Francisco released 15 players in all Friday and also waived cornerbacks Prince Charles Iworah and Will Redmond with injured designations. The team must still trim 18 more players to get down to the 53-man limit by Saturday’s deadline.
The team also released running back Tim Hightower.
— Wire services