Saturday Dawg Chow: Browns news (2/25/23)

Dawgs By Nature:

• Weekly Mock Draft: Defense early, offense later (Jared Mueller) - This week we decided to hold off on our weekly Cleveland Browns mock draft once the team moved on from Mike Priefer and went through the process to hire Bubba Ventrone. We hope all of you were waiting anxiously for this mock. Don’t fret, we are here for you.
• Free agency profile: safety Jessie Bates III (Thomas Moore) - If Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry and the coaching staff see the situation in a similar light, then there is a safety within the AFC North that they might want to take a hard look at in free agency.
• Browns make Ventrone hire official, Stefanski comments (Jared Mueller) - It is official for the Cleveland Browns, Bubba Ventrone is their newest special teams coordinator and assistant head coach. The Browns fired Mike Priefer earlier this week and quickly it seemed tied to the possibility that Ventrone was available to move on from with the Indianapolis Colts.

Cleveland Browns:

• Linebacker Bobby Wagner is available, but Browns could have other defensive priorities (Beacon Journal) - The Los Angeles Rams and linebacker Bobby Wagner’s mutual parting of ways, as it’s being called in various quarters, will make NFL free agency that much more intriguing. Especially for the Cleveland Browns.
• Potential cap-saving cuts the Browns could make this offseason (cleveland.com) - With more money, comes more problems, not just for Deshaun Watson but for the Cleveland Browns’ management. The offseason will give them enough time to come up with ways to save money, or to make salary cuts. If the Browns were to go with the latter, below are a few players who could make that possible.
• 5 things to know about Bubba Ventrone (clevelandbrowns.com) - The Browns hired one of the league’s top special teams coordinators Friday in Raymond “Bubba” Ventrone, who arrives in Cleveland after serving as the special teams coordinator with the Colts for the last five seasons. He’ll also serve as the Browns’ assistant head coach. Here’s five things to know about Cleveland’s newest coaching hire.
• Luck could finally be on Browns’ side with Lamar Jackson situation in Baltimore (Browns Zone) - Perhaps it was the late great sportswriter Grantland Rice who put it best: “Dame Fortune is a cockeyed wench, as someone’s said before. And yet the old Dame plays her part in any winning score. Take all the credit you deserve, heads-up in winning pride. But don’t forget that Lady Luck was riding at your side.” So, let’s face it. Given the evidence of the last 30 or so years, the best hope for the Browns is that they periodically get better accidentally.

NFL:

• Can Sean Payton guide Russell Wilson back to dominance with Broncos? (ESPN) - In the twilight of the Denver Broncos’ final Sunday of the 2022 season, quarterback Russell Wilson stood in front of the media contingent trying to make sense of his worst season as a pro.
• Russell Wilson’s first year with Broncos: ‘Too much influence,’ too few wins in disorganized disaster (The Athletic) - Hours before his first regular-season game with the Denver Broncos last September, Russell Wilson made an unfamiliar walk down the visitor’s tunnel at Seattle’s Lumen Field.
• Cardinals OC Petzing already impressed with Kyler Murray, ready for ‘unique’ challenge of QB’s absence (NFL.com) - Despite being multiple months from returning to the field, Kyler Murray has already found a way to impress his new offensive coordinator. It is peak optimism season, after all.
• Lamar Jackson’s counteroffers to Ravens reportedly exceeded Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed deal (Baltimore Beatdown) - Perhaps no storyline will dominate NFL headlines in the coming months more than the ongoing contract negotiations between the Baltimore Ravens and star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens have until March 7 to reach a long-term deal with the former unanimous MVP before they will have to use the franchise tag to prevent Jackson from hitting the open market once free agency begins.