BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Browns signed long snapper Charley Hughlett to a four-year contract extension through 2026 Friday.
Hughlett’s agent announced the agreement.
The extension includes the largest signing bonus, guarantee, and overall value in league history for a long snapper his agent said.
“It feels great,” Hughlett said. “My family and I have made Cleveland our home, and we’re excited to be able to stay here for another four years. All three of my kids have been born here, and this place has been a huge part of our lives. It’s very exciting.”
Hughlett, signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2014, is the second-longest tenured Brown behind 2014 second-round pick and left guard Joel Bitonio.
“This was certainly the goal,” Hughlett said. “I definitely felt like I had the talent to be able to do it. It took a lot of believing in myself, and obviously my family and friends have helped me along the way. That was a tough period of my life, but obviously being here and staying here was the goal. The time has gone by really quick. I’m just thankful to keep it going.”
Hughlett, as reliable as they come, has never missed a game and played in 120 since joining the Browns.
“Charley has a great temperament, and he’ll do whatever he can do to help them get better,” special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said. “That’s the most impressive thing about Charley — he’s so unselfish. He wants Cade to do well, and he wants Corey to do well. He’s always looking to make sure he gives the best play to the holder, the kicker and the punter that he can make.”
Last week in Baltimore, he bounced a long snap back on a PAT try.
“I said [to Hughlett], ‘I have never seen you do that before.’ He goes, ‘I have never done that before,’” special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said. “That was the extent of the conversation.”
Punter and holder Corey Bojorquez handled the ball and got it upright for kicker Cade York to boot it through the uprights with ease. It’s something they work on in practice all the time using a JUGGS machine.
“That is why we do it,” Priefer said. “Corey was prepared. I know the knock on him was he was not a great holder coming here. I think he is a great athlete, and he did a phenomenal job on that play. Cade did a good job because the get-off was only 1.4 [seconds]. You would expect that to be a 1.5 or 1.55 where they could block it off of the edge. Cade stuck with it and put it through. It was a great play and obviously a huge play to keep the game at three points.”
False start – As it turns out, the officials got the false start right on the 55-yard field goal try with just over two minutes to play Sunday in Baltimore.
“When they moved, our left end moved, and he was not an adjacent lineman,” Priefer said. “When that happens, it is on us. They called the wrong number, but I think that is what they saw, the officials. You can’t argue that. It happened just before they made contact. Their whole left side of their defensive line, at least two of them, moved and hit our guys, but we had moved on our left side, which was not an adjacent lineman so that was a mistake that we made so that cost us the five yards.”
As a result of the penalty, Cade York’s 60-yard try was blocked and the Ravens were able to run out the clock to hold on for the 23-20 victory.
Priefer also explained the discrepancy in the length of the snap and hold on the second attempt, which some have been saying was a yard closer than it should have been.
“I think we were probably about a foot [closer],” Priefer said. “I thought initially because I saw it happening, and I thought it was going to be a yard, but it was more like a foot because Charley actually moved the ball up a couple feet so we were probably about a foot off there. I honestly don’t think that had anything to do with the kick because of where it hit [Ravens linebacker Malik] Harrison.
“What a great play that kid made because he is at the line of scrimmage. He actually leaped and jumped up at the line of scrimmage. There is nothing you can do about that. He didn’t get any closer than he would have been. Just a great play by him.”
Help from Harry – With David Njoku in a walking boot Friday, it appears Harrison Bryant will handle the role of the No. 1 tight end Monday night.
“My goal every week is to have an expanded role because in terms of a game, you never know who’s going to go down, what could transpire,” Bryant said. “So every week I’m preparing to have to play every snap and whatever I’m asked to do I’m just going out there and doing the best of my ability and doing whatever I can to help the team win.”
Bryant has started five of the seven games he’s appeared in this season as part of two tight end sets where he’s caught 14 of 21 targets for 114 yards.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski called Bryant Harry on Thursday.
“Actually, that was my nickname in like high school and then somehow in college they figured it out and then somehow they figured it out here,” Bryant said.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll respond to anything.”
Keeping the faith – The Browns might be 2-5 and their season all but over in terms of playoff hopes but players are keeping the faith.
“I’ve been on teams that have been in similar situations, it really just takes a win, to be honest,” receiver Amari Cooper said. “That’s really what it takes, a win. When you get that win, you’ve just got to get the small things right to play well in situations that you need to play well in, just to turn the tide in your favor.
“Once you get that win, it can become a domino effect. I was on the Cowboys in 2018, we were 3-5 I believe, we went on like a 10-game winning streak or something like that. It can be done for sure.”
It’s a great thought by Cooper except the Browns haven’t won more than four games in a row since 1999, and they’ve only done that four times – twice during the 2020 season.
“I think the mood is good,” Bryant said. “Obviously no one likes losing and being 2-5 right now but our goal this week is to get a win and once you get one you can start compiling them and you never know what’s going to happen after that but as of right now we’re really focused on this game, a big game for us and just get that ball rolling.”
Cooper believes they have what it takes to make a run starting Monday night.
“People in the locker room are serious about winning,” Cooper said. “The thing all NFL players have in common is we’re all really, really competitive, so we all really want to win. So that’s why I think it comes down to the small things, because everybody is so competitive, everybody is looking to do the right things to win, so it’s just going to come down to the smallest detail.”
Injury report – DNP: TE David Njoku (ankle), LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (knee), CB Denzel Ward (concussion), DE Myles Garrett (shoulder, biceps), TE Pharoah Brown (concussion), RG Wyatt Teller (calf), CB Greedy Williams (illness), RT Jack Conklin (rest); LIMITED: DE Jadeveon Clowney (ankle, knee), CB Greg Newsome II (oblique); FULL: LG Joel Bitonio (rest), WR David Bell (ankle), TE Harrison Bryant (thumb), WR Amari Cooper (rest), OL Joe Haeg (concussion)
Up next – Practice Saturday.
