Top waiver wire pickups the Cleveland Browns will consider

The Cleveland Browns are in the favorable position of having first dibs on any player they want from the waiver wire. If you are unclear on it, think of it this way: if there were 5 players who Cleveland wanted to claim, they could place a waiver claim on all 5 players and be guaranteed every single one of them, regardless of what the other 31 teams in the NFL did. That is one of the benefits of finishing with the worst record in the NFL.

How beneficial can those waiver claims be? Last year, Cleveland claimed WR Reggie Davis, CB Mike Jordan, NT T.Y. McGill, WR Kasen Williams, and QB Josh Woodrum. That probably isn’t the best way to get excited about having a top waiver priority, knowing that none of those guys panned out. But those were also selections made under Sashi Brown, not John Dorsey. So, which players could be of interest to Cleveland? Let’s take a look at some of the hot names out there.

Tier 1 Intrigue

• OG Nico Siragusa (6-0, 320 lbs) - Siragusa was a 4th round pick by the Ravens in 2017, but tore his ACL, MCL, and PCOL during training camp in 2017. He returned to camp this year and was doing pretty well, but didn’t make the final roster.
• DE Steven Means (6-3, 263 lbs) - A 5th round pick in 2013, Means is a 27-year old player who has bounced around the league, seldom playing meaningful action. He has been with the Eagles since 2015, but doesn’t have enough accrued seasons to keep him off the waiver wire. This preseason, Means drew headlines with the Eagles for logging a team-high 4 sacks, including 3 in the preseason finale.

• OLB Vince Biegel (6-3, 246 lbs) - This is the obligatory “he has ties to Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith” mention. Biegal was a 4th round pick by the Packers last year. He suffered a fracture in his foot during the offseason, keeping him on the PUP list until early November. In 9 games, he logged 16 tackles. This preseason, he had 11 tackles, 1 for a loss.

Tier 2 Intrigue

• FB Dimitri Flowers (6-2, 248 lbs) - Flowers was with the Jets in training camp as a fullback/H-back, but he is getting the honorable mention here simply because he was Baker Mayfield’s fullback in college. He is a versatile player and had a good pass-blocking grade this preseason.
• WR Braxton Miller (6-2, 215 lbs) - Hue Jackson’s most prized success in two years as the Browns’ head coach was how he got Terrelle Pryor to play wide receiver in 2016. Miller, a former 3rd round pick, has worked at the position already for two years, but it wasn’t enough for Houston.
• DL Carl Davis (6-5, 327 lbs) - A 3rd round pick by the Ravens in 2015, Davis has been bothered by injuries the past two years. He can improve the Browns’ depth on the defensive line, although it seems less likely they’ll need the help at the position after Saturday’s trade.
• LB Scooby Wright (6-0, 239 lbs) - Drafted by the Browns in 2016, the Arizona Cardinals signed him off Cleveland’s practice squad in December of that year and have had him since.
• S Godwin Igwebuike (6-0, 190 lbs) - The Buccaneers paid him a $100,000 bonus to sign with them as an undrafted free agent.

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Also, even though he is not subject to waivers (due to having accrued four seasons), FB Ryan Hewitt was released by the Bengals and had a couple of years working with Hue Jackson.

It can be tough to sift through over 1,000 names of players who were cut. This thread on Reddit tries to highlight some of the bigger names (but note that not all players are subject to waivers).

Who Would You Like to See?

Let us know which players you’d like to see the Browns claim off waivers this year. We should know by 12:00 PM ET on Sunday who Cleveland is claiming. Because they have first dibs, though, we might hear news about their pickups sooner than that. Use this as an open thread to initially discuss all of Sunday’s options.