Browns head coach Todd Monken spent the last three years overseeing the Ravens’ offense and part of that role involved the development of wide receiver Zay Flowers.
The process went pretty well. The 2023 first-round pick made two Pro Bowls while amassing 237 catches for 3,128 yards and 14 touchdowns during his three years playing for Monken.
Cleveland used one of its first-round picks on a wide receiver this year and Monken sees some connective tissue between what Flowers brought to his offense and what rookie KC Concepcion could be able to do.
“There are some traits that are similar to [Flowers],” Monken said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. “But I love when people spoke about KC, it reminded me of Zay in that, in terms of how he practiced, what he brings in every day. And if you’re looking for that comparison, that I can compare, I believe he’s going to bring that like Zay did.”
Flowers has had the benefit of playing with Lamar Jackson and the Browns don’t have that kind of certainty at quarterback, but a quick transition to NFL life will help whoever winds up slinging the ball for Monken this fall.
The Raiders signed linebacker Cameron McGrone, the team announced Monday.
Las Vegas cut wide receiver Brenden Rice in a corresponding move.
McGrone, who turns 26 next month, played four games for the Colts and one for the Browns last season. In the five combined games, he played 43 defensive snaps and 68 on special teams and totaled two tackles.
The Patriots made him a fifth-round pick in 2021, but he never appeared in a regular-season game before he joined the Colts in December 2022. He played one game that season and has played in 27 games in his career.
Rice, the son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, signed a futures deal with the Raiders in January after spending time on their practice squad late last season.
The Chargers selected Rice in the seventh round of the 2024 draft, and he has also spent time with the Patriots and Seahawks.
Rice, 24, has appeared in three games, all with the Chargers and all in his rookie season.
Veteran tight end David Njoku finally has a new home.
Via NFL Network, Njoku has agreed to terms with the Chargers on a one-year deal. It’s reportedly worth “up to” $8 million.
Which means it has a base value below that, with an opportunity to earn the rest through incentives. Without knowing the incentives, it’s impossible to know how easy or hard it will be to get there.
Njoku was the 29th overall pick in the 2017 draft. He had played nine years in Cleveland. He made the Pro Bowl in 2023, with a career-high 81 catches for 882 yards and six touchdowns.
With the 2025 season, Njoku completed a four-year, $54.75 million deal with the Browns.
In L.A., Njoku becomes another weapon in the new-look offense being implemented under coordinator Mike McDaniel. The Chargers currently have four other tight ends on the roster, headlined by Oronde Gadsen, who generated 664 receiving yards as a rookie in 2025.
His protracted stay on the free-agency market makes his signing not count for compensatory draft-pick purposes, for either the Chargers or the Browns.
Browns rookie quarterback Taylen Green believes he’s one of a kind.
Green is taller than most other quarterbacks and his performance at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis shows that he also stands out in terms of his physical ability. He ran a 4.36 40-yard dash and set positional records for his vertical leap and broad jump, which makes him feel like there’s no easy comparison for him among the league’s other signal callers.
“To be honest, no,” Green said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “I would say of course Lamar [Jackson], but he ain’t 6′6″. Josh Allen is close, but I’m 230. He’s like 260. My dad says Randall Cunningham-ish. I really don’t think there’s anybody like me. Not in a like cocky [way] or anything, just some confidence. There’s nobody that moves like me, that’s as tall as me.”
It’s hard to argue with Green being an outlier when it comes to size and athleticism, but the flip side of that is that he lasted until the sixth round of the draft because those traits did not translate to consistent success throwing the ball while at Arkansas. The Browns are trying to address the fundamental causes that contributed to 35 college interceptions and the results of that effort will decide if Green ever progresses beyond intriguing prospect in the NFL.
A year after the Browns used a fifth-round pick on quarterback Shedeur Sanders, they took a sixth-round flier on quarterback Taylen Green.
Green is undeniably a high-level physical talent. The first order of business in Cleveland is to get to work on his fundamentals as a passer.
“Well, first thing was . . . footwork,” coach Todd Monken told reporters on Saturday. “Cadence — getting used to our cadence early on, and he was better today, but [Saturday] morning and [Friday], choppy with his cadence. So just getting our guys into a rhythm at the line of scrimmage, I think that was the second thing he needed to work on.
“He did a nice job today of working through his progressions. I did like that part of it. We’re gonna have to be really diligent in trying to tighten down his release. When you’re talking about check downs taken from as long of his release or long release he has, to really just being able to dart it to get it quickly out of his hands into the hands of whether it’s a running back or a tight end. But I’ve been super impressed with his ability to really learn, process and take it to the field and then getting through his progressions, really impressive.”
The length of the release is no small issue. It’s very hard to change years of muscle memory. And a long release at the NFL level creates two problems. One, it telegraphs the throw. That makes it easier for defensive backs to get to the ball. Two, it gives pass rushers more of a chance to attack the ball as the quarterback works through his throwing motion.
Still, Green has unlimited potential. If Monken and the Browns can polish up those various fundamental skills, Green could become a dangerous weapon for the Browns.
