Cleveland Browns add former second-round pick to their 53-man roster in a move that just had to happen
The Browns have struck another roster move on Tuesday following cutdowns by the way of signing a former second round pass rusher from the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cleveland Browns needed another pass rusher after losing defensive end Alex Wright to injury, and they found one on the open market following roster cutdowns.
The Wright injury was a gut punch to the Browns’ pass rush depth. Cleveland responded by signing Derek Barnett to potentially serve as the third defensive end behind Verse and Isaiah McGuire, but the team still needed more. The Browns parted ways with pass rusher Julian Okwara on Monday after he made the initial 53-man roster, leaving a clear hole at the position.
According to Jordan Schultz, the Browns have signed former Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Sam Williams, who will be playing in his fifth season overall in 2026 after missing all of 2024 with an injury.
Sam Williams is a welcomed addition for the Browns’ depth
Williams bounced back from the knee injury in 2024 to play 17 games for Dallas last year, recording 37 tackles, one sack, and 15 pressures on the quarterback. The 6-foot-4, 260-pound pass rusher was a second-round pick by the Cowboys in the 2022 NFL Draft and finished fifth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting that season after posting 22 tackles and four sacks. He improved to 26 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2023 before the knee injury forced him to miss all of 2024.
Williams is still just 27 years old, and the Browns get a player who can serve as a secondary pass rusher. He had a good preseason and clearly still has something left in the tank after a serious injury a couple of years ago. This may not be Cleveland’s last move at the position either. The Browns could also opt to bring a fifth pass rusher up from the practice squad on game days.
To make room for Williams, the Browns waived undrafted free agent cornerback Michael Coats Jr. The move came as a bit of a surprise considering cornerback is another area where Cleveland could use some depth.
Williams wasn’t a player some Cowboys fans wanted to see leave Dallas, and that tells a story about the kind of depth piece the Browns landed following roster cutdowns.
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