4 first-year Cleveland Browns who will be gone in 2023
By Greg Newland
The Cleveland Browns brought in a ton of new players in 2022, but here are four that will be one-and-done in Cleveland.
After making the playoffs in 2020, the Cleveland Browns have had back-to-back years of disappointment. 2021 was the year of Baker Mayfield. He suffered an injury early and was extremely inconsistent all year. Even after exercising his fifth-year option, Andrew Berry traded him away for next to nothing in return and gave up six picks for Deshaun Watson.
2022 was then obviously the year of Watson. He was suspended the first 11 games of the season and then came back and didn’t exactly knock the doors down after not playing for nearly two full seasons. It’s not time to give up on him yet, but Berry certainly needs to get this roster in ship shape for the 2023 season where a lot will be on the line.
With significant roster turnover, each year will bring a new batch of free agents. Here are four Browns that joined the team in 2022 and likely won’t get another shot to play for the organization.
Cleveland Browns one and done No. 4: Chase Winovich
When Andrew Berry traded Mack Wilson to the New England Patriots for Chase Winovich, I thought it was a brilliant move. Wilson needed a fresh start, and Winovich was playing out of position at linebacker in New England. At the time Winovich was slated to be the third defensive end on this roster, but those plans never panned out.
For starters, injuries plagued Winovich all season. And just when he would get healthy and be active, it felt like he would get injured again. Winovich would end up only playing in eight games for the Browns in 2022 and he had very little impact on the field when he did suit up.
The biggest reason the Browns will move on from Winovich is Alex Wright, the rookie from 2022 who played very well at times. Wright wasn’t a fantastic pass rusher, but he held the line of scrimmage well and was an excellent run defender.
Berry will certainly need to add some depth at defensive end this offseason, but Winovich will go down as a major strikeout.