2016 Cleveland Browns season

2016 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Hue Jackson
General manager	Sashi Brown[1]
Owner	Jimmy Haslam
Home field	FirstEnergy Stadium
Uniform

The 2016 Cleveland Browns season will be the franchise's upcoming 68th season as a professional sports franchise, its 64th season as a member of the National Football League and the first under head coach Hue Jackson and de facto general manager Sashi Brown.

Offseason

Front office changes

On January 3, just hours after the Browns' final game of the 2015 season, the team fired general manager Ray Farmer, who had been the general manager the past two seasons.^[2] Team owner Jimmy Haslam also announced that the team's general counsel Sashi Brown would become the team's vice president of football operations.^[3]

On January 5, the Browns hired former New York Mets executive Paul DePodesta to be their chief strategy officer. DePodesta brings over 20 years of experience in the Major League Baseball front offices, but has never held an executive position in the NFL before this.^[4]

On March 4, the Browns announced the resignation of team president Alec Scheiner, effective March 31.^[5]

Coaching changes

On January 3, the Browns fired head coach Mike Pettine. In two seasons with the Browns, Pettine had a record of 10-22, but went just 4-19 after a 6-3 start to the 2014 season.^[2]

On January 13, the Browns hired former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson as head coach. Jackson was the Bengals' offensive coordinator for the past two seasons and was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2011, in which they posted an 8-8 record.^[6]

Roster changes

Free Agents

Pos	Player	Tag	2016 Team	Signed
SS	Johnson Bademosi	UFA	Detroit Lions	March 10[7]
WR	Travis Benjamin	UFA	San Diego Chargers	March 9[8]
ILB	Tank Carder	UFA	Cleveland Browns	March 7[9]
K	Travis Coons	ERFA	Cleveland Browns	April 4[10]
QB	Pat Devlin	RFA
FS	Tashaun Gipson	UFA	Jacksonville Jaguars	March 9[11]
WR	Darius Jennings	ERFA	Cleveland Browns	April 6[12]
OLB	Cam Johnson	ERFA
FS	Don Jones	UFA	Cleveland Browns	March 17[13]
C	Alex Mack	UFA	Atlanta Falcons	March 9[14]
DE	Jamie Meder	ERFA	Cleveland Browns	March 7[9]
T	Darrian Miller	ERFA
RB	Raheem Mostert	ERFA	Cleveland Browns	March 7[9]
G	Austin Pasztor	RFA
WR	Terrelle Pryor	UFA	Cleveland Browns	March 17[15]
LB	Craig Robertson	UFA	New Orleans Saints	March 22[16]
T	Mitchell Schwartz	UFA	Kansas City Chiefs	March 9[17]
ILB	Scott Solomon	RFA

Releases

Pos	Player	Released	2016 Team	Signed
WR	Dwayne Bowe	March 16[18]
LB	Karlos Dansby	March 16[19]	Cincinnati Bengals	March 29[20]
QB	Johnny Manziel	March 11[21]
SS	Donte Whitner	April 2[22]

Signings

Pos	Player	2015 Team	Signed
G	Alvin Bailey	Seattle Seahawks	March 11[23]
LB	Demario Davis	New York Jets	March 16[24]
QB	Robert Griffin III	Washington Redskins	March 24[25]
S	Rahim Moore	Houston Texans	March 16[26]
LB	Justin Tuggle	Houston Texans	March 11[27]

2016 draft class

2016 Cleveland Browns Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
1	15	Corey Coleman	WR	Baylor
2	32	Emmanuel Ogbah	DE	Oklahoma State
3	65	Carl Nassib	DE	Penn State
	76	Shon Coleman	T	Auburn
	93	Cody Kessler	QB	USC
4	99	Joe Schobert	OLB	Wisconsin
	114	Ricardo Louis	WR	Auburn
	129	Derrick Kindred	FS	TCU
	138^	Seth DeValve	TE	Princeton
5	154	Jordan Payton	WR	UCLA
	168	Spencer Drango	T	Baylor
	172^	Rashard Higgins	WR	Colorado State
	173^	Trey Caldwell	CB	Louisiana–Monroe
7	250	Scooby Wright III	ILB	Arizona

Notes

• The Browns traded their original 1st round selection (No. 2) to the Philadelphia Eagles for the Eagles' 1st (8), 3rd (77), and 4th (100) round selections, as well as the Eagles' 1st round selection in 2017 and 2nd round selection in 2018.

• The Browns would then trade the No. 8 and its 6th round (176) selection to the Tennessee Titans for their 1st (15) and 3rd (76) round selections and a 2nd round selection in 2017.

• The Browns traded their 3rd (No. 77) and 5th (141) round selections to the Carolina Panthers for their 3rd (93), 4th (129), and 5th (168) round selections.
• The Browns traded their 4th round selection (No. 100) to the Oakland Raiders for their 4th (114) and 5th (154) round selections.
• The Browns traded their 7th round selection (No. 223) to the Miami Dolphins for their 7th round selection (250) and CB Jamar Taylor.
• ^As the result of a negative differential of free agent signings and departures that the Browns experienced during the 2015 free agency period, the team received three compensatory selections for the 2016 draft:^[28] selection 138 in the fourth round, and selections 172 and 173 in the fifth round. Free agent transactions that occurred after May 12, 2015 did not impact the team's formula for determining compensatory selections for the 2016 draft.^[29]

Gordon reinstatement

On April 1, wide receiver Josh Gordon applied for reinstatement following an indefinite suspension by the NFL due to repeated violations of the league's substance abuse policy, causing him to miss the entire 2015 season. On April 11, it was revealed that Gordon had failed another drug test, and on April 12, the league announced that Gordon's appeal had been denied. He is eligible to reapply on August 1.

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff (EDT)	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	TV	NFL.com recap
1	August 12	8:30 p.m.	at Green Bay Packers			Lambeau Field
2	August 18	8:00 pm	Atlanta Falcons			FirstEnergy Stadium
3	August 26	8:00 p.m.	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers			Raymond James Stadium	CBS
4	September 1	8:00 pm	Chicago Bears			FirstEnergy Stadium

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff (ET)	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	TV	NFL.com recap
1	September 11	1:00 p.m.	at Philadelphia Eagles			Lincoln Financial Field	CBS
2	September 18	1:00 p.m.	Baltimore Ravens			FirstEnergy Stadium	CBS
3	September 25	1:00 p.m.	at Miami Dolphins			New Miami Stadium	CBS
4	October 2	1:00 p.m.	at Washington Redskins			FedEx Field	CBS
5	October 9	1:00 p.m.	New England Patriots			FirstEnergy Stadium	CBS
6	October 16	1:00 p.m.	at Tennessee Titans			Nissan Stadium	CBS
7	October 23	1:00 p.m.	at Cincinnati Bengals			Paul Brown Stadium	CBS
8	October 30	1:00 p.m.	New York Jets			FirstEnergy Stadium	CBS
9	November 6	1:00 p.m.	Dallas Cowboys			FirstEnergy Stadium	Fox
10	November 10	8:25 p.m.	at Baltimore Ravens			M&T Bank Stadium	NFLN
11	November 20	1:00 p.m.	Pittsburgh Steelers			FirstEnergy Stadium	CBS
12	November 27	1:00 p.m.	New York Giants			FirstEnergy Stadium	Fox
13	Bye
14	December 11	1:00 p.m.	Cincinnati Bengals			FirstEnergy Stadium	CBS
15	December 18	1:00 p.m.	at Buffalo Bills			Ralph Wilson Stadium	CBS
16	December 24	1:00 p.m.	San Diego Chargers			FirstEnergy Stadium	CBS
17	January 1	1:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh Steelers			Heinz Field	CBS

Notes

• Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
• Networks and times for Sunday games from Weeks 5–17 are subject to change as a result of flexible scheduling.

Staff

Cleveland Browns staff
	Front Office Owners – Jimmy and Dee Haslam Chief Strategy Officer – Paul DePodesta Executive Vice President of Football Operations – Sashi Brown Executive Vice President of Business Operations – Bryan Wiedmeier Vice President of Player Personnel – Andrew Berry Vice President, Football Operations - Phil Dangerfield Director of Football Administration - Chris Cooper Director, Football Research/Player Personnel - Ken Kovash Special Advisor – Jim Brown Head Coaches Head Coach – Hue Jackson Associate Head Coach - Offense/QBs – Pep Hamilton Offensive Coaches Sr. Offensive Assistant/Wide Receivers – Al Saunders Running Backs/Run Game Coordinator – Kirby Wilson Tight Ends – Greg Seamon Offensive Line – Hal Hunter Assistant Offensive Line - Mark Hutson Offensive Quality Control/Assistant WRs – Bob Saunders Offensive Quality Control/Assistant RBs - Rock Cartwright			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ray Horton Defensive Line – Robert Nunn Assistant Defensive Line - Ken Delgado Outside Linebackers – Ryan Slowik Inside Linebackers – Johnny Holland Defensive Backs – Louie Cioffi Assistant Defensive Backs – Cannon Matthews Defensive Quality Control - Eric Sanders Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Chris Tabor Special Teams Assistant – Shawn Mennenga Special Teams Quality Control - Stan Watson Strength and Conditioning Director, High Performance - Adam Beard Strength and Conditioning Coordinator - Evan Marcus Strength and Conditioning Coordinator - Jason Veltkamp Assistant Stength/Skill Development - Joe Kim Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Derik Keyes Assistant Strength and Conditioning - Art Tolhurst Sports Scientist - Jamey Mroz Strength and Conditioning Intern - Ian Jones → Coaching Staff → Management → More NFL staffs
AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI LA SF SEA

Current roster

Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks  7 Austin Davis 10 Robert Griffin III -- Cody Kessler 13 Josh McCown  9 Connor Shaw Running backs 34 Isaiah Crowell 29 Duke Johnson 42 Malcolm Johnson FB 25 Raheem Mostert -- Patrick Skov FB 38 Terrell Watson 28 Glenn Winston Wide receivers -- Corey Coleman 18 Taylor Gabriel 85 Rannell Hall 83 Brian Hartline 16 Andrew Hawkins -- Rashard Higgins 17 Darius Jennings -- Ricardo Louis 15 Marlon Moore -- Jordan Payton 11 Terrelle Pryor Tight ends 82 Gary Barnidge 88 E. J. Bibbs -- Seth Devalve 89 Connor Hamlett -- J.P. Holtz 86 Randall Telfer		Offensive linemen 78 Alvin Bailey G 68 Conor Boffeli G 61 Michael Bowie T 75 Joel Bitonio G -- Shon Coleman T -- Spencer Drango G 74 Cameron Erving G 79 Dan France T 62 Garth Gerhart C 77 John Greco G 65 Kaleb Johnson G 69 Erle Ladson T -- Mike Matthews C 67 Austin Pasztor T 73 Joe Thomas T Defensive linemen 92 Desmond Bryant DE 96 Xavier Cooper DE 93 John Hughes NT -- Nile Lawrence-Stample DE 98 Jamie Meder DE -- Carl Nassib DE -- Emmanuel Ogbah DE -- Kyle Rose DE 55 Danny Shelton NT 97 Dylan Wynn DE		Linebackers -- Dominique Alexander ILB 95 Armonty Bryant OLB 59 Tank Carder ILB 56 Demario Davis ILB 91 Jackson Jeffcoat OLB 58 Christian Kirksey ILB 99 Paul Kruger OLB 51 Barkevious Mingo OLB 44 Nate Orchard OLB -- Joe Schobert OLB 52 Justin Tuggle ILB -- Scooby Wright III ILB Defensive backs 40 Sean Baker S -- Trey Caldwell CB 24 Ibraheim Campbell SS -- Kenya Dennis CB 26 Pierre Desir CB -- Mikell Everette CB 43 Charles Gaines CB 21 Justin Gilbert CB 23 Joe Haden CB -- Tracy Howard CB 35 Don Jones SS 20 Rahim Moore FS 33 Jordan Poyer FS 37 Tim Scott S -- A.J. Stamps FS -- Jamar Taylor CB 36 K'Waun Williams CB 22 Tramon Williams CB Special teams  6 Travis Coons K -- Brad Craddock K 47 Charley Hughlett LS  8 Andy Lee P				Reserve lists 12 Josh Gordon WR (Susp.) Rookies in italics Roster updated May 5, 2016 Depth Chart • Transactions 89 Active, 1 Inactive, 3 Unsigned → AFC rosters → NFC rosters
AFC East BUF MIA NE NYJ North BAL CIN CLE PIT South HOU IND JAX TEN West DEN KC OAK SD NFC East DAL NYG PHI WAS North CHI DET GB MIN South ATL CAR NO TB West ARI LA SF SEA

References

1. Brown is the de facto general manager. His official title is "Executive Vice President, Football Operations"
2. "Browns fire Mike Pettine, Ray Farmer". ESPN. January 3, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
3. Jackson, Zac (January 3, 2016). "Haslam gives Sashi Brown roster control, denies Marrone interview scheduled". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
4. "Paul DePodesta named Browns Chief Strategy Officer". ClevelandBrowns.com. January 5, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
5. ESPN (March 23, 2016). "Cleveland Browns Transactions - 2016". ESPN. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
6. Wesseling, Chris (January 13, 2016). "Cleveland Browns hire Hue Jackson as head coach". NFL.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
7. Birkett, Dave (March 10, 2016). "Detroit Lions add special teams ace in Cleveland Browns DB Johnson Bademosi". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
8. Williams, Eric (March 9, 2016). "Chargers reach deals with WR Travis Benjamin, TE Antonio Gates". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
9. "Browns re-sign LB Tank Carder; sign DL Jamie Meder, RB Raheem Mostert work=ClevelandBrowns.com". March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
10. "Browns' Travis Coons: Re-signs with Browns". CBS Sports. April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
11. McManamon, Pat (March 9, 2016). "Jaguars add safety Tashaun Gipson for 5 years, $35.5M, source says". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
12. "Browns sign restricted free agents and exclusive rights players". ClevelandBrowns.com. April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
13. ESPN (March 17, 2016). "Cleveland Browns Transactions - 2016". ESPN. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
14. McClure, Vaughn (March 9, 2016). "Falcons address one big need with center Alex Mack". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
15. ESPN (March 17, 2016). "Cleveland Browns Transactions - 2016". ESPN. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
16. Doe, John (March 22, 2016). "Saints, LB Craig Robertson reach 3-year deal". ESPN. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
17. McManamon, Pat (March 9, 2016). "OT Mitchell Schwartz leaving Browns for Chiefs". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
18. Sessler, Mark (March 16, 2016). "Cleveland Browns release receiver Dwayne Bowe". NFL.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
19. Wesseling, Chris (March 16, 2016). "http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000644918/article/karlos-dansby-released-by-cleveland-browns". NFL.com. Retrieved April 1, 2016. External link in |title= (help)
20. Marcum, Jason (March 29, 2016). ""Bengals sign Karlos Dansby; Brandon LaFell still in play"". SB Nation. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
21. McManamon, Pat (March 11, 2016). "Johnny Manziel Waived by Browns". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
22. Reilly, Steve (April 5, 2016). ""Browns release veteran starting safety Donte Whitner"". The Duncan Independent. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
23. ESPN (March 16, 2016). "Cleveland Browns Transactions - 2016". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
24. Chris Pokorny (March 16, 2016). "Browns Reportedly Sign ILB Demario Davis, Who Could Start for Ray Horton". Dawgs By Nature. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
25. Schwab, Frank (March 24, 2016). "Robert Griffin III signs with the Cleveland Browns". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
26. "Browns sign Rahim Moore, former Texans safety, to 1 year deal". Cleveland.com. March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
27. ESPN (March 16, 2016). "Cleveland Browns Transactions - 2016". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
28. "Over The Cap".
29. Florio, Mike (March 31, 2015). "June 1 free-agency deadline moved to May 12". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved March 31, 2015.

External links

• Official website