Saturday Dawg Chow: Browns news (4/6/24)

More of the latest Browns news and notes from around the web in today’s dose of the Saturday Dawg Chow.

Dawgs By Nature:

• Browns Deshaun Watson, Kevin Stefanski talk QB style impacting play calling (Jared Mueller) – At the opening of Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson’s first Ohio-based restaurant chain, head coach Kevin Stefanski sat down to talk on his quarterback’s podcast. An interesting short interaction seems to bode well for the two being on the same page.
• After NFL draft: Browns could be Broncos backup option for big need (Jared Mueller) – Dorian Thompson-Robinson could fit well in Sean Payton’s system if the Denver Broncos miss out on a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft.
• 2024 Browns NFL Draft Big Board, Vote for Slots 1-5 (Chris Pokorny) – It’s time to kick off the first round of voting for the 2024 Browns’ DBN Big Board! Remember that you are supposed to weigh a combination of talent, need, character, positional value, etc. for each player you vote for concerning how they would fit with the Browns.
• NFL draft: Browns bring in versatile offensive tackle prospect as one of their 30 visits (Barry Shuck) – Cleveland Browns general Andrew Berry thought he was in a good place last year with the defensive line after the final cutdown. He kept five defensive tackles instead of the usual four. So, where did the extra defender’s spot come from? The offensive line.
• Breakdown of Shelby Harris’ contract with the Browns (Chris Pokorny) – The new deal includes several voidable years for the Cleveland Browns’ playmaking defensive tackle.
• Breakdown of Maurice Hurst’s contract with the Browns (Chris Pokorny) – Cleveland defensive tackle signed one of the more simple contract structures that you’ll see from general manager Andrew Berry.

Cleveland Browns:

• Who might be some of the ‘best available’ offensive players for the Browns in the 2024 NFL draft? (cleveland.com) – With the Cleveland Browns still holding on to their second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, at least for the time being, what might the strategy look like in just a few short weeks when the Browns are on the clock?
• Exploring the pros and cons of the stadium options (Browns Zone) – Are pros-and-cons lists still a thing? Or have they gone the way of the landline and letters? I wondered this as I pondered the stadium issue facing the Cleveland Browns, their fans, and the city of Cleveland.
• Sources: Cleveland Browns returning to white facemasks, unveiling updated logo on April 17 (sportslogos.net) – According to multiple sources, the Cleveland Browns are permanently swapping the brown facemask on their orange helmets for a white facemask and updating their logo to reflect the change on April 17.
• Cleveland Browns 7-round NFL mock draft: Defensive line and receiver help on the way (The Athletic $$$) – With so much of last season’s 11-win team returning and Cleveland down to five picks, there’s not much surrounding the Cleveland Browns and this month’s draft.

NFL:

• Carolina Panthers sign Pro Bowler Derrick Brown to multi-year extension. (The Charlotte Observer) – This offseason, the Carolina Panthers aimed to fortify their defense by keeping the unit’s young, promising core of playmakers together. And while that turned out to be an ambitious goal, as free agency’s melee quickly proved, at least one key defender is staying put. Derrick Brown, the record-setting defensive lineman who earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2023, agreed to a multi-year contract extension with the Carolina Panthers, the team announced on Friday.
• How and why Cincinnati did a position makeover at safety (ESPN) – Even though he was elsewhere, Vonn Bell still kept tabs on his old club. He was the Cincinnati Bengals starting free safety for three years and helped transform the team from the NFL’s worst to AFC champions. And even though Bell left in 2023 to sign a contract with the Carolina Panthers, he said he watched every Bengals game from last season. So when he came back to the Bengals after the Panthers released him in March, he immediately knew what went wrong for Cincinnati last season.
• The four big questions facing Stefon Diggs and the Houston Texans (The Ringer) – The Houston Texans took a big swing in trading for the mercurial former Buffalo Bills receiver. But then they altered his contract, and Diggs will be a free agent next year. Why did they do that? And what sort of player are they getting?