Cleveland Browns beef up defensive line with two waiver claims

The Cleveland Browns claimed two players on Sunday

After trimming their roster down to 53 players, the Cleveland Browns will need to make a couple more cuts as they were awarded their claim for two different players on Sunday.

Cleveland unsurprisingly went after the defensive line, which had only eight players after making their initial cuts. That group is now up to 10, as they were awarded defensive end Joe Jackson on waivers from the Dallas Cowboys and defensive tackle Vincent Taylor from the Buffalo Bills.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero had the entire list of claims, that also included Damion Ratley being claimed by the New York Giants. Ratley ended up being the only player Cleveland waived to be picked up.

With these moves in the books, the Browns — and the rest of the NFL — will now turn their attention to filling out their 10 man practice squads. As for the two newest Browns, let’s look a little deeper at what they bring.

Joe Jackson, former 5th round pick

Jackson was added in the fifth round last season by the Dallas Cowboys but became expendable when they added Everson Griffen, Aldon Smith, and Bradlee Anae this year. They also found out Randy Gregory will be allowed to return later on as long as he continues to stay on the straight and narrow.

Praised for his length, the 6-foot-5, 258-pound Jackson was a former teammate of Chad Thomas — who was just waived on Saturday — at Miami. He had 22.5 sacks collegiately but enters this season with just four tackles in five games under his belt. He’s a developmental guy who has a chance to carve out a nice NFL career.

Vincent Taylor adds a lot of beef

The Browns needed help at nose tackle and that’s where Vincent Taylor is going to come in. He was taking in the sixth-round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins but spent 2019 on the Buffalo Bills.

In three seasons, he has 51 career tackles and two sacks. He was starting to break out in 2018 but an injury cut his season short and Miami waived him in the offseason.

Taylor will add a powerful backup behind Larry Ogunjobi at a position of need.