Browns have "strong interest" in Dwayne Bowe

As others have said, #Browns have interest in WR Dwayne Bowe. My understanding is it's strong interest.

— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) March 13, 2015

The Chiefs cut Bowe yesterday. Josh McCown was cut by the Buccaneers. Brain Hartline was cut by the Dolphins. Thad Lewis was cut by the Texans. So far all three free agent acquisitions by the Browns were players cut by other teams. Dwayne Bowe would make a fourth.

Players cut by other teams and then signed in free agency do not count in the calculations for compensatory draft picks. The pattern developing here lends support to the idea that Farmer is aiming to receive some for the 2016 NFL Draft. According to Over The Cap, they predict the Browns would receive two 4th round compensatory picks and two 5th rounders:

Not for nothing... Current prediction says Browns get two 4ths and two 5ths in comp picks next year: http://t.co/oqaEAQPMsJ

— Jared K Mueller (@JaredKMueller) March 13, 2015

As for Dwayne Bowe himself, here are his career stats, courtesy of NFL.com:

       G    Rec    Yds   Avg    TD
2014   15    60    754   12.6    0
2013   15    57    673   11.8    5
2012   13    59    801   13.6    3
2011   16    81   1159   14.3    5
2010   16    72   1162   16.1   15
2009   11    47    589   12.5    4
2008   16    86   1022   11.9    7
2007   16    70    995   14.2    5
Total       532   7155   13.4   44

As we can see, his production peaked in 2010. His yards per season have declined since 2011 and his touchdowns dropped off this past year, but his average yards per catch have held reasonably steady.

What would he bring to the Browns?

• Hangs onto passes when hit after the catch
• Struggles to haul in balls when hit as the pass arrives
• Effective on slants: uses his body to shield the ball, ready to turn upfield
• Not a special route runner, isn't going to burn corners in the short area with sharp cuts on whip routes and hitches
• Good body control in his routes
• Bad at adjusting to underthrown and low passes
• Also bad at catching throws behind him
• Big catch radius above him and in direction he's headed
• Hands catcher who can go up and get jump balls
• Natural feel for catching passes dropped in over his shoulder

This catch radius is something that the Browns didn't have in their receiver corps. Hartline has improved that somewhat but adding Bowe would even more.