Saturday Dawg Chow: Browns news (1/28/23)

Dawgs By Nature:

• Could the Browns make a surprising move to save significant cap space? (Thomas Moore) - Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry will have several standard housekeeping issues to complete this offseason. In addition to the Senior Bowl (January 31 to February 4 in Mobile, Ala.), the Scouting Combine (February 28 to March 6 in Indianapolis), and the start of free agency when the new league year opens on March 15, Berry will need to focus some of his attention to the team’s salary cap.
• Browns weekly mock draft with two key defensive free agents signed as well (Jared Mueller) - It is Friday morning and it is time for your weekly Cleveland Browns mock draft from Dawgs By Nature. Every week we will attempt to look at the team’s options in a variety of ways. Whether that is through using different mock draft simulators, making trades of picks or, in today’s case, adding in a touch of free agency to the scenario.
• AFC Championship game: Browns fans rooting for... individual players? (Jared Mueller) - As the Kansas City Chiefs look to host the Cincinnati Bengals, fans of the Cleveland Browns can only wonder if it will ever be their time. As we hope to see the team improve (as we tried to do earlier today with a mock draft and a couple of free-agent decisions), Cleveland fans are left to watch the Chiefs and Bengals square off to try to get to the Super Bowl.

Cleveland Browns:

• Browns’ Jacob Phillips keeping positive mindset amid ‘fresh start’ with Jim Schwartz (Beacon Journal) - Jacob Phillips’ NFL career has not necessarily gone the way the Browns linebacker would’ve hoped.
• John Johnson III and 3 other players the Browns must make big decisions on for 2023 (cleveland.com) - As the Browns prepare to watch their AFC North rival Bengals play in the AFC Championship Game Sunday against the Chiefs, they’ll continue to evaluate their roster and determine how far they have to go to get there themselves.
• One NFL insider believes Watson may never return to form (Browns Wire) - Washington Post NFL insider Jason La Canfora joined 92.3 the Fan in Cleveland on Wednesday and discussed several topics including Deshaun Watson. La Canfora believes that Watson’s struggles are mental and that they are beyond football. Pointing out that he had such a great reputation for charity work in the community and that it is all turned upside down likely forever.
• Mock Draft Roundup: Early predictions of who the Browns will draft 1st in 2023 (clevelandbrowns.com) - Mock draft season is upon us, and this year’s series of round-ups might look a bit different than past years. With no pick until Day 2, that leaves more room for guessing as to who will be heading to Cleveland, but mock drafts that go beyond Round 1 are still out there — even in January. The first collection of mocks holds a variety of positions and guesses for the Browns, but the most common picks are at defensive line, where the Browns could be looking for multiple new starters next to Myles Garrett.

NFL:

• Christian McCaffrey trade from Panthers to 49ers: Inside story (ESPN) - In the minutes after the San Francisco 49ers had pulled off the biggest trade of the season, phones started ringing on opposite ends of the country.
• Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa remains in concussion protocol (NFL.com) - Tua Tagovailoa won’t be participating in the 2023 Pro Bowl Games. The Dolphins quarterback remains in the league’s concussion protocol and will be unable to partake in the league’s all-star game as a result, NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reported Friday.
• The rapid evolution of Joe Burrow (The Ringer) - The Cincinnati Bengals’ star quarterback has taken another step up this season, not by refining his play style but by changing it. That’s his superpower.
• Do Bengals have Patrick Mahomes’ number? Not really, though they’ve had some success (Yahoo Sports) - Patrick Mahomes hasn’t been bad against the Cincinnati Bengals in their past three meetings. The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t won any of those three games, but there’s more to winning and losing games than a quarterback’s production, no matter how often you hear otherwise.