Osweiler attends start of offseason program

The offseason program began for the Browns on April 17 with Brock Osweiler on hand.

Players were not available to the media for the start of the session that began 10 days before the start of the NFL draft on April 27. The first media session is set for April 18, when about a half-dozen players are expected to speak. Osweiler will not be one of them, but a team spokesman said the quarterback acquired from the Texans on March 9 will meet with reporters at a later date.

The Browns had some minor news to report: running back George Atkinson, who had been an exclusive rights free agent, and defensive back Marcus Burley, who had been a restricted free agent, signed contracts.

Atkinson was primarily a special teams player until the final game of the season, when he carried the ball seven times for 34 yards and a touchdown in a loss at Pittsburgh. He returned eight kicks for 137 yards and made six special teams tackles.

Burley played in 12 games with five tackles, a pass break-up and two special teams tackles.

Running back Isaiah Crowell, a restricted free agent, has not signed his second-round tender of $2.7 million. Teams have until April 21 to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. In Crowell’s case, the Browns would have a week to match the offer. They would receive a second-round draft pick as compensation if they do not.

Osweiler is one of three quarterbacks on the roster along with Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan. The Browns traded the Texans a fourth-round pick for Osweiler, a sixth-round pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018.

The lopsided trade, from the Browns’ view, was about getting the second-round pick. The Texans believed trading the second-round pick was worth dumping Osweiler’s $16 million guaranteed 2017 salary.

Stories quickly surfaced Osweiler would be cut or traded, but the Browns are expected to take a closer look at him before parting with him unless they draft a quarterback or acquire another veteran in a trade.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Brock Osweiler, shown with the Texans in 2016, and his Browns teammates began offseason workouts on April 17.