Cleveland Browns Sign Another Veteran Wide Receiver and Safety from Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions Respectively
After waiving kicker Lucas Havrisik on Tuesday, the team has announced the signing of free agent safety Brady Breeze, which brings the roster back to the full 90. Breeze participated in the Browns rookie minicamp as a tryout player.
Listed 6′ 205 pounds, Breeze was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He played in five games with the Titans before they opted to release him. He was then scooped up the Detroit Lions and played four more games that season. Breeze appeared in two games with the Lions in 2022. In 2023, he spent time on the practice squads for both the Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans.
By virtue of the fact Breeze was drafted by the Titans, he was there at the same time both Mike Vrabel and Jim Schwartz. Vrabel was the head coach and Schwartz was operating in an advisory role. Now, Schwartz is the defensive coordinator for the Browns while Vrabel has a consulting role.
Coming out of Oregon, Breeze was 197 pounds and considered a player with excellent instincts, tenacity and playmaking ability. That was illustrated by scoring three defensive touchdowns for the Ducks in 2019. The concern was that he didn’t offer much in terms of size or athleticism. His athletic testing was a little better than those knocks might otherwise suggest, but he was by no means special. Breeze is also someone that has experience on special teams.
The team has not officially commented on the situation, but the last practice session that was open to the media, safety Grant Delpit was not participating, watching on the side. It’s possible that the team wanted to bring in Breeze, who profiles in a similar role, to come in and get a look while Delpit recovers from whatever was keeping him out of action. Likewise, it’s possible that Delpit’s situation is entirely unrelated and the Browns just wanted to take advantage of an opportunity to look at Breeze, especially if either Schwartz or Vrabel vouched for him.
The Browns don’t need three kickers. Part of Havrisik’s appeal was his ability to punt with his right foot to help returners catch balls spinning that direction. Corey Bojorquez, the team’s full-time punter is a lefty.
Breeze joins Chris Edmonds, who to this point, had been the only addition to the safety room this offseason. Edmonds was signed as an undrafted rookie out of Arizona State. Myles Harden, one of the team’s seventh-round picks, could also potentially contribute in that role but he’s primarily a corner at this point.
For the most part, the Browns seem to be pretty content with their safety room. Edmonds and Breeze add competition and could push players like D’Anthony Bell and Ronnie Hickman. The Browns want the best possible 90-man roster to then end up with the best possible 53-man roster.
