Brownie Bites: Browns waive A.J. Green III, awarded Kahlef Hailassie, fill 15 practice squad slots including signing Austin Watkins Jr.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns spent Wednesday tweaking their initial 53-man roster and filling out most of the 16 practice squad slots available with players they waived on Tuesday.
Here’s a look at our top Brownie Bites, including those moves on Wednesday.
The moves – Cleveland waived cornerback A.J. Green III and were awarded rookie cornerback Kahlef Hailassie off waivers from the Chiefs. “You’re always trying to make sure the roster is as robust as possible, and AJ (Green), in terms of special teams, coming in as a CFA (college free agent) himself, did a lot of good things for this team and this organization throughout the couple years,” Browns assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel Glenn Cook said. “But we just, thought Kahlef is a really talented guy, and we kind of loved his prospect and bringing him in and hopefully him contributing at some point.” The addition of Hailassie forced them to release Green. “It becomes a numbers game and I had that conversation with a lot of our players,” Stefanski said. “It’s difficult to make a 53. Sometimes you look in a certain room and it’s hard to make that room. So that DB room is very crowded. We’d love to have AJ back [on the practice squad]. We’ll see how it shakes out next 24 hours or so.”
Notorious CLE – New kicker Dustin Hopkins knows all about Cleveland’s reputation for being a nightmare for some kickers. “Obviously this is a notorious place to kick,” Hopkins said. “It’s a tough place to do this job. At this point in my career, I always tell myself, I try to be focused on the process and not the results. Obviously we're in a results-oriented business. I know the results eventually have to be there. But I tell myself I’m process-oriented and the results will come, so kicking in a place like this and knowing that I need to be at my best is kind of an exciting challenge, even though a tough one at the same time.” The Browns acquired Hopkins from the Chargers for a 2025 seventh round pick Monday to replace Cade York, who signed with the Titans practice squad after being waived Tuesday. Hopkins is excited about coming to a team that has high expectations this season. “Anytime when you’re playing games that you’re kicking field goals and you’re down 20 or something, it’s almost harder to focus because you feel like it might not make a difference,” Hopkins said. “But when you’re kicking in meaningful moments, it forces you to, I think oftentimes pressure almost helps focus in a number of different fields, but with kicking, I just feel like you have to lock in and I want to win. I like winning. I don’t like losing. So anytime I can be on a team with high hopes, high expectations, and with the ability to do it, I would like to be on those teams. So I’m glad to be here.” Despite the challenges of kicking in Cleveland Browns Stadium, the club believes Hopkins is the guy that can make those tough kicks in critical situations. “Dustin’s a pro. The big part of the job is making kicks,” Cook said. “We feel like he’s done that in his career. We feel like he’ll come here and do that for us.”
Making it – A pair of undrafted rookie free agents made the 53 – safety Ronnie Hickman out of Ohio State and Utah’s Mahmoud Diabate, a linebacker. “I think [our scouts] did a great job of putting us in position to be ready post draft to sign guys like Mahmoud and Ronnie,” Cook said. “And we saw the talent, we saw the potential, and then they came here and they performed. So I think it started with them and just the coaching staff doing a great job of getting those guys ramped up, putting them in position to make plays, and then ultimately they did it.” Hickman, who had three interceptions during his Buckeyes career, picked three passes off during the preseason and was a standout during camp practices. “This game is about opportunity.,” Hickman said. “You never know when your number’s called, but when your number’s called, you got to make the play and that’s kind of a thing we used to say at Ohio State. So when your number’s called, you want to go out there and make the play, and not only for yourself but for your teammates as well.” Diabate FaceTimed his family after EVP/GM Andrew Berry called with the good news. “It was a great feeling. I've loved it here so far,” Diabate, who registered a safety and forced a fumble in the preseason, said. “I love the coaches, love the staff, facility, everything about being a Cleveland Brown. So I was really happy to know that that was going to continue. Very happy to have the opportunity to keep showing what I'm about.”
Come on back – The Browns signed 12 players back to the practice squad: cornerback Lorenzo Burns, receiver Jaelon Darden, guard Michaell Dunn, running back Hassan Hall, defensive tackle Trysten Hill, defensive end Sam Kamara, safety Tanner McCalister, tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden, defensive end Lonnie Phelps, linebacker Charlie Thomas III, defensive end Isaiah Thomas and receiver Austin Watkins Jr. “There’s a lot of guys we’re excited that are back,” Stefanski said. “You put so much work into this thing with these players and you spend a lot of time in player development and with the meetings and practice, so it’s always exciting when you can continue to work with guys and Austin is certainly an example of that.” The team aso agreed to terms with kicker Lucas Havrisik, tackle Alex Leatherwood, and quarterback P.J. Walker to join the practice squad. No player that was waived by Cleveland on Tuesday was claimed off waivers allowing the team to sign them to the practice squad. “It’s a lot of hurry up and wait,” Cook said. “Obviously there’s a lot of names to go through in terms of the wire and, again, just making sure that we haven’t missed any players who could potentially be available or someone we can add to practice squad, so it could be long hours the last couple days really just trying to make sure we cross all our T’s and dot the I’s in that process, but it's also fun, right? That’s why I do the job. I think that's why our group does it. We love trying to dig up players and give guys to our coaching staff to hopefully put them on the field and help us be productive.”
Moving on – Kicker Cade York, who cleared waivers after the Browns acquired Dustin Hopkins from the Chargers, signed with the Tennessee Titans practice squad. “It’s really tough,” Cook said. “Cade is super competitive. He cares a lot. I’m sure he wanted things to be different. I think everybody’s disappointed, probably, with how it played out, but all these decisions are tough when you’re trying to make these type of calculations.” Cleveland was interested in bringing York back but the 2022 fourth round pick opted for a change of scenery. “Disappointed how it all worked out,” Stefanski said. “Rooting for him. Not surprised ultimately that he went somewhere else, but that's kind of the nature of this business really.”
Award winner – Backup quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was voted the 2023 Maurice Bassett Award winner by local beat writers. In total, six rookies received votes from the media including Thompson-Robinson: Dawand Jones, Ronnie Hickman, Cedric Tillman, Mahmoud Diabate and Cameron Mitchell.
Home visit – The Browns will practice Thursday at Cleveland Browns Stadium. “Just felt like we needed to get down there one more time,” Stefanski said. “We weren’t there at all in the spring. Only had that one preseason game, so it felt like it’d be helpful for all of our guys to just get one more run down there. I think it helps now with Dustin [Hopkins]. He’ll obviously spend more time down there, not just tomorrow, but I think it just helps for some of the newer guys and all of us just to get the confines looked at one more time before we get down there on the 10th.”
Run it back – Brownie returns to the 50 after winning the fan vote for a second consecutive year the team announced. The fan designed dawg logo was the other finalist.
Roll call – CB Denzel Ward (concussion), LB Jordan Kunaszyk (knee), DE Alex Wright (knee) did not practice.
