Browns Bring Back Pass-Rusher After Brief Departure

The Cleveland Browns have signed defensive end Sam Kamara to the practice squad, bringing him back less than a week after releasing him.

The Browns announced the signing of Kamara with a series of other moves. The team also released punter Matt Haack and guard Joey Fisher from the practice squad.

Kamara is in his second NFL season out of Stony Brook. Originally signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2021, he has appeared in 10 career games. He has spent most of 2022 and 2023 on the Browns’ practice squad, appearing in one game this season.

There’s a chance Kamara could get a call-up to the active roster this week against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns have nothing at stake for the Week 18 matchup and could rest key starters like Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith.

“We’re working through all those things,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday, January 1. “We’ll have a plan, obviously. We want to finish strong, so we’ll have a plan moving forward, but I’ll update you guys as we get going through the week.”

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Browns Dealing With Injuries on Defensive Line

The Browns defensive line has been banged up in recent weeks. The team lost veteran tackle Maurice Hurst for the season and Ogbo Okoronkwo is dealing with a pec injury. Okoronkwo is holding out hope that he’ll be able to go for the postseason. He’s missed the last two games.

The Browns are also missing starting middle linebacker Anthony Walker and safety Grant Delpit, who is on injured reserve but hoping to return for the postseason.

“I don’t know,” Stefanski said when asked for an update on his injured players. “Obviously, we’ll see how all those guys progress over the course of the next couple of weeks. You want to get all those guys back, obviously, but we’ll just have to see how they do over the next seven to 14 days.”

Garrett has also been banged up but has yet to miss a game. The Defensive Player of the Year favorite has been battling through a shoulder injury. He was able to break his sackless streak last week against the New York Jets. If the Browns are resting players against the Bengals, Garrett would be one of the priority players to sit out.

That being said, the sack-hungry All-Pro might want an opportunity to score a few more in the final week of the season. Garrett has 14 sacks this season.

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Browns Punter Corey Bojorquez Likely to Return

The Browns played last week without their starting kicker and punter. Kicker Dustin Hopkins is dealing with a left hamstring injury, while Corey Bojorquez has a quad issue.

The move to waive Haack — who punted on Thursday against the Jets — likely means that Bojorquez is on his way back. Haack hit three punts against New York for a respectable average of 51.7 yards.

It’ll be nice for the Browns to get Bojorquez back but Hopkins is a big missing piece for the Browns. The team gave up just a seventh-round pick for Hopkins in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers. He’s been the most reliable kicker the team has had in over a decade.

Hopkins has hit 33 of his 36 field goal attempts and is 8-for-8 from beyond 50 yards.

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