(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
The Cleveland Browns are adding some more help to the defensive as their first preseason game inches closer.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the team is signing defensive end Marcus Haynes, who was last with the Denver Broncos in 2023.
One of the biggest reasons for this move was Pro Bowl edge-rusher Za’Darius Smith going down with a knee injury at practice yesterday.
Cleveland now makes this move to bring another healthy player at the position.
#Browns signing DE Marcus Haynes, per source. Was on Broncos practice squad last year.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 6, 2024
Haynes signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion but was unable to make the final 53-man roster, so he was reverted to the practice squad.
He then signed with the Houston Texans in late February of this year before ultimately being waived just a couple of months later.
This kind of move doesn’t necessarily mean anything terrible has happened to Smith, but signing a healthy player is good for competition and good for keeping the roster afloat.
If Smith suffered a serious injury, free-agent defensive ends and edge-rushers such as Yannick Ngakoue and Carl Lawson are still available.
The Browns might have been better served to go after veteran players like them rather than bringing in a practice squad player.
But, this is also training camp and you never know who could surprise the coaching staff.
Haynes could come in and blow up play after play in practice eventually earning himself a roster spot.
For now, all he can do is go out and try to make some noise which might be hard to do with Myles Garrett also at that position.
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