Browns claim Elijah Lee off waivers

The Cleveland Browns have claimed linebacker Elijah Lee off the waiver wire on Friday from the Detroit Lions.

A four-year veteran, the 6-foot-3 and 230-pound Lee will not be eligible to play in Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders because he first has to clear the league-mandated COVID-19 protocol.

Lee was originally drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings out of Kansas State. While he did not stick with the Vikings, Lee played in 38 games career with the San Francisco 49ers from 2017 to 2019, and four games this season before being waived by the Lions on Thursday to open up a roster spot for cornerback Justin Coleman, who is returning from injured reserve.

During that time, has has posted 67 tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles, while adding 10 tackles on special teams, according to clevelandbrowns.com. The bulk of his stats on defense came in 2018, when he played in all 16 games for the 49ers, making five starts. That season he had 65 tackles, two passes defensed and a forced fumble.

Lee will be familiar with Cleveland defensive coordinator Joe Woods from their time together last season with the 49ers.