WATCH: Browns Show Off 'Normal' Watson's 50-Yard Throw
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JUNE 15 - 50 YARD BOMB - As quarterback Deshaun Watson works his way back from last season's shoulder injury, the Cleveland Browns haven't been shy about sharing videos of the 28-year-old throwing the ball in mandatory minicamp.
Thursday was no different, as the Browns shared a video of a 50-yard bomb from Watson.
Now, as the Browns turn the page from mandatory minicamp to training camp, coach Kevin Stefanski revealed on Thursday that Watson, who he said has looked like his "normal" self in recent practices, will continue his rehab process in their weeks off.
"He's got a good plan. Like all of our guys, we talked about it today, establishing a routine, making sure that they're staying healthy, that they're getting their work done, that they're still in their free time," Stefanski said of Watson. "If they want to do some summer reading, they can crack open that playbook if they want to, of course. But, yeah, he's got a good plan of attack and how he's going to get his body ready."
JUNE 14 - HOT MIC - The Cleveland Browns got just a taste of football season this past week as they completed their three-day mandatory minicamp. It was one of the first times this offseason that the team, rookies and veterans alike, got to take the field together.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson was among those veterans to take the field, and as he did so Tuesday for the first day of minicamp, the Browns mic'd him up.
JUNE 14 - FINAL STEP COMPLETE — The final ramp-up to training camp is now in the rearview. When the Cleveland Browns left the practice field Thursday, they concluded their three-day mandatory minicamp. So what's next?
Well, the Browns will have a few weeks off in the immediate time before beginning training camp near the end of July. Just like last year, the Browns will hold training camp in Greenbrier, where they are also set to host joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings.
JUNE 13 - BRINKS TRUCK - In what feels like a certainty, with each offseason comes another market-setting quarterback deal. With the latest example this offseason being the Jacksonville Jaguars, who agreed to a five-year $275 million deal with Trevor Lawrence.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft will now be the league's highest-paid signal-caller, earning $55 million per year. The quarterback market continues to rise in the two years following Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson's historic contract.
Watson's five-year, $230 million deal with the Browns, which pays him $46 million annually, now ranks eighth highest at the position.
JUNE 13 - REVIVED— After a tumultuous two years with the Denver Broncos, during which Russell Wilson was famously benched for the final two games of last season before eventually being released this offseason, he has a new lease on life with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As he described his mental state when speaking with the media during the Steelers' mandatory minicamp, he feels like he has found the "fountain of youth."
“I feel revived in every way, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I feel confident. I think at some point you have to know who you are as a player, as a man, as a competitor," Wilson said. "As somebody who’s been fortunate to be able to play this game, I don’t doubt it. I trust it. I felt really good last year playing. I felt really confident in the midst of everything. And so I think right now I have all that confidence times 10.”
By all indications, Wilson's start in Pittsburgh has been good. There are no rumors of a strained relationship between the 35-year-old and his coaches. It is certainly something that Steelers fans want to hear, but the same cannot be said for Cleveland Browns fans.
Obviously, within a very competitive AFC North division, the Browns and Steelers not only find themselves as rivals but potentially also as direct competition for a spot in the postseason.
This means that if Wilson emerges as the Steelers' starting quarterback and looks "revived" in terms of his performance, it could make the Browns' quest back to the postseason all the more difficult.
JUNE 12 - TITANS SIGN BROWNS EX— The Tennessee Titans have a former member of the Cleveland Browns Wednesday with the signing of veteran offensive tackle Geron Christian.
The sixth-year offensive tackle, formerly out of Louisville, signed with the Browns last October, originally joining as a member of the practice squad.
However, following an injury crisis up front that saw the Browns without both starting offensive tackles, Jedrick Willis and Jack Conklin, Christian was asked to start in nine of his 10 appearances last season.
With most teams now two days into their three-day mandatory minicamps, focus around the league is starting to turn to training camp. This means that some teams will be looking to fill out their roster with players who can either fill holes and compete for a spot on the 53 or simply be "camp bodies."
It is too early to tell what Christian will be like for the Titans, but nonetheless, he will have his chance to prove his worth.
JUNE 12 - HOLD OUT PUNISHMENT - The biggest news of Day 1 of mandatory minicamp for the Cleveland Browns was the absence of star receiver Amari Cooper. The former first-round pick, whom the Browns traded a fifth and sixth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for, is now holding out.
As reported by Mary Kay Cabot, Cooper is not present for the Browns' second day of minicamp, putting to bed any doubt about whether this is a contract holdout.
As for the potential punishment, unlike OTAs, which were voluntary, Cooper could now be subject to a $101,716 fine if he misses all three days of minicamp, in accordance with the league's collective bargaining agreement.
JUNE 11 - MADDEN— It is that time of year: the NFL season is just around the corner, and training camp is weeks away. This also means the hype is beginning to build for the newest installment of Electronic Arts' Madden video game.
While EA isn't set to release "Madden 25" until August 11, that hasn't stopped them from getting the hype train going, starting with Tuesday's reveal of the cover athlete. No, it wasn't a member of the Cleveland Browns. Rather, they opted for San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
The reigning Offensive Player of the Year and rushing leader from last season has now made history, becoming just the fifth running back to grace the cover of a Madden game, joining the likes of Peyton Hillis, Adrian Peterson, Berry Sanders, Eddie George, Shaun Alexander.
JUNE 11 - HOLDOUT - As teams kick off mandatory minicamp around the league Tuesday, there is certain to be plenty of news about who is and isn't present for the three-day camp. Luckily for the Cleveland Browns there aren't expected to be any players holding out for a new contract. However, the same cannot be said for their AFC North rival, the Cincinnati Bengals.
While Ja'Marr Chase, who missed OTAs as he awaits a long-term deal, did return for minicamp, his fellow receiver Tee Higgins did not, according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport.
After being franchise-tagged by the Bengals this offseason, Higgins has still yet to sign his tender, which means technically he is not under contract and thus won't be subject to fines for missing minicamp.
JUNE 11 - CYBERTRUCK— Elon Musk's Tesla has been among the leading automakers in the electric vehicle industry. After the big success of its sedan and SUV models, Tesla has naturally transitioned into making its own version of a "truck" with the Cybertruck.
One Cleveland Browns fan recently proudly showcased his Cybertruck, but it wasn't just another Tesla. The Reddit user "dprunner811" touched up the appearance of his car by using the iconic brown and orange color scheme seen in the Browns uniforms.
JUNE 10 - UFL WORKOUT—The Cleveland Browns are a day away from kicking off their three-day mandatory minicamp. However, they are still looking to make roster additions.
According to a report from KPRC 2's Aaron Wilson, the Browns are hosting Michigan Panthers offensive lineman Chimemela Okorafor for a workout. The Benedictine College product signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent last year before playing for the Panthers this past spring.
JUNE 10 - JEUDY—With the Cleveland Browns just a day away from kicking off mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, they spent Monday going through media days. This allowed the Browns' social media team to give fans their first looks at some of the newcomers in the brown and orange.
One of the offseason additions showcased Monday was receiver Jerry Jeudy, who posed for one of his first photos in a Browns uniform.
Jeudy, the former first-round pick out of Alabama, was traded away by the Denver Broncos this offseason in exchange for a 2024 fifth and sixth-round pick.
After failing to live up to the high expectations of being a first-round pick in Denver, the 25-year-old will look to form a dangerous duo at receiver with another former Crimson Tide player, Amari Cooper.
JUNE 10 TOMLIN SIGNS The Cleveland Browns have secured the future of their leadership after announcing recently that they extended the contracts of coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry. The extension for Stefanski specifically seemingly put to bed any whispers of the fifth-year coach potentially being on the hot seat this coming season if they can't make the playoffs.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens have coach John Harbaugh locked down through 2025, and the Cincinnati Bengals' Zac Taylor is tied down through 2026.
This left the Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Tomlin with the only expiring deal in the division. ... until now.
On Monday, Pittsburgh announced it has signed Tomlin, 52, to a three-year extension.
So he is set to enter his 17th season as the Steelers' coach ... and there is coaching stability now across the divisional landscape.
JUNE 10 - VRABEL'S ROLE - The Cleveland Browns made potentially one of the sneakiest additions to their coaching staff this offseason. No I am not talking about the hiring of offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.
Rather, it is the hiring of former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, who, after his firing last season, joined the Browns staff as a consultant.
No, it isn't an on-the-field coaching role that could produce the biggest impact for the Browns, but Vrabel is still a valuable addition nonetheless. So what exactly will his role entail, then?
Well, as explained in his recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski explained Vrabel's involvement as whatever the 48-year-old wants it to be.
"He'll be here, I told [Vrabel] we'll take as much as you want to give us, you want to give us one hour a week or 100, that's your call," Stefanski said. "So we're working through it because I'm mindful of stealing him away from his family as well, but he'll be up here this fall, yes."
JUNE 9 UNHAPPY? ALREADY? The Pittsburgh Steelers' wide receivers situation threatens to be a one-man show featuring George Pickens. ... and with that possibility comes The Athletic's prediction of George Pickens unhappiness.
"Right now, there's just a glaring hole at wide receiver after Pickens,'' The Athletic's Mark Kaboly said recently on 93.7 The Fan, going on to suggest, “Hmm, George Pickens is not gonna be happy with the coverage he's gonna be getting.''
What's the solution? The reporter mentioned how that changes if the Steelers "get a guy like (Brandon) Aiyuk or (Deebo) Samuel.''
It's true that at the wideout position, the Steelers aren't going to get it done at the same level as, say, the Browns wideouts. But "unhappiness'' all teetering on whether the Steelers can engineer a blockbuster trade? That sounds pretty wobbly from here.
JUNE 9 JOHNNY AND JOSIE How much does Josie Canseco like Johnny Manziel?
She's wearing him.
The former Browns QB and the daughter of the infamous MLB slugger are dating, and recently, Josie, a former Victoria's Secret model, went viral on social media for her noteworthy T-shirt.
Josie's shirt has Johnny Manziel's face on it.
Manziel, who has been very open about the behavioral struggles that ruined his chance to build on his Heisman Trophy success in college while in Cleveland, seems to have turned his life around. And we wish the happy couple well!
MAY 28 WEAK? We don't know that Pro Football Network is wrong in its evaluation.
We just know that for the sake of the Cleveland Browns, they'd better be.
Pro Football Network recently released an article about each NFL team’s weakest position group after the draft, and they listed quarterback as Cleveland’s weakness link. From PFN ...
“Deshaun Watson is capable of recapturing the form he showed with the Texans, and he is still just 28 years old. But Watson looked lost at times last season ...
"The Cleveland Browns will be a Super Bowl contender if Watson plays well. But ...''
We might argue that PFN's evaluation is allowing itself a rather wide swath here. Watson's a "weakness'' ... but he might go to the Super Bowl?
We will say this, again, given what the Browns did to bring Watson here: PFN needs to be way, way off on the "weakness'' part.
MAY 5 DTS UPDATE Former fifth-round pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson showed promise during his rookie season of 2023 before a hip injury that ended his season prematurely.
Now he's working his way back - with Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston ahead of him on the depth chart ... with an injury update via Cleveland.com’s Browns Insider Mary Kay Cabot ...
"I’d say probably March (there was a turning point),” he said. “I got another MRI. And so from there, things looked a lot better. We kind of started ramping it up from there, but I’m just super excited back on Monday.”
That's a good re-start for DTS as he tries to again carve out a role for himself with the Browns.