Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has not played since suffering a neck injury in October 2024 and it is reportedly a long shot that he’ll be able to get back on the field in the future.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that it is “doubtful at best” that Owusu-Koramoah will ever play again. Owusu-Koramoah was immobilized and placed on a back board after a collision with Ravens running back Derrick Henry and then taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
Owusu-Koramoah spent all of last season on the physically unable to perform list. When he was ruled out for the year, Owusu-Koramoah said in a statement that he doesn’t “know what’s next, but I’ll continue trusting my medical team, serving the community, and backing my brothers on the field.”
Owusu-Koramoah was a 2021 second-round pick in Cleveland. He has 308 tackles, eight sacks, three interceptions, and six forced fumbles in 49 career games.
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett now holds the single-season sack record. He now has a bigger goal.
In a recent interview with Casino Guru News, Garrett said he wants to break the all-time sack record.
“I’m going to take that down, and prefer that I take it down here in the next five years,” Garrett said. “That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get. That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”
Through nine seasons, Garrett has 125.5 sacks. He’s had at least 10 sacks for eight straight seasons.
Garrett needs 75 sacks to break Bruce Smith’s record of 200. (Sacks first became an individual stat in 1982.) Garrett is currently tied for 20th, with Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney. Garrett is third among all active players, behind Von Miller and Cam Jordan. (Both had a six-year head start on Garrett.)
It’s doable. Garrett has 83 sacks over the last five years, an average of 16.6 per season. He needs to average 15 over the next five to make it happen.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield added some spice to his team’s rivalry with the Falcons when Kevin Stefanski became Atlanta’s head coach, making clear that he still has hard feelings about the way his time with Stefanski in Cleveland ended. But now Mayfield is downplaying any issue with Stefanski.
“There’s stuff there, but it’s not like it’s beef,” Mayfield said in a Super Bowl interview with Sports Illustrated, via NFL.com. “We’ve worked together, anytime you know somebody, you want to beat them whether it’s a good or bad relationship.”
Mayfield said that if there’s extra motivation to beat the Falcons, it’s because the Buccaneers want to get back on top in the NFC South, not because Stefanski is the Falcons’ coach.
“Not a revenge game of a sense of Atlanta, but we lost the division for the first time since four or five years, so, any divisional game will be a revenge game, I guess,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield has had a lot more success than Stefanski since the two of them parted, and Mayfield knows beating Stefanski on the field will mean more than any words he can say.
Every year, the coaching carousel spins first. Then, the quarterback carousel whirls.
It’s coming soon. Veteran quarterbacks will be cut, traded, signed. Teams will reshuffle their depth charts with changes at the most important position on the team.
In a recent item about the potential contract prospects of Packers (for now) backup Malik Willis, some of the veteran options were listed. Here’s a look at the various teams that will have decisions to make regarding veteran quarterbacks currently on the roster, or to be added once the new league year begins.
Dolphins: They have a decision to make about Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins owe him $54 million in 2026. The two-year (or one-year, if they choose to rip the Band-Aid in one motion) dead-cap charge for cutting Tua would be $99.2 million. They need to decide what to do with Tua, and whether to add a veteran — like Willis. They’d surely love to find a way to trade Tua, even if it means selling some of the cap charge to another team by attaching a draft pick to Tua’s contract. And since they owe him every penny of his 2026 pay, they could choose to keep him around. (That would fully guarantee another $3 million for 2027, however.)
Jets: Justin Fields likely will be cut. Half of his $20 million salary for 2026 is fully guaranteed. They’ll likely be looking for a veteran, possibly on a short-term basis, to run new coordinator Frank Reich’s offense.
Steelers: They’re willing to wait for Aaron Rodgers, which would take them out of play for a veteran in the early days of free agency. Willis or Cousins could be intriguing options, if they find out before March 11 that Rodgers won’t be returning.
Browns: Who knows what they’ll do? Deshaun Watson is under contract for another year, at $46 million. Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are, too. Will the new half-regime led by coach Todd Monken want a veteran from the outside?
Ravens: In the unlikely event the Ravens trade Lamar Jackson, they’d need a new quarterback — presumably one with starting experience.
Colts: Daniel Jones, who is recovering from a torn Achilles, likely will be back. Anthony Richardson has one year left on his rookie deal; he’s under contract for 2026 at guaranteed pay of $5.385 million. If Jones leaves, the Colts would need another veteran.
Raiders: They owe Geno Smith $18.5 million for 2026. Another $8 million becomes fully guaranteed on March 13. Would someone trade for him at $26.5 million? He could be cut. The Raiders also could keep him as the bridge to Fernando Mendoza, if they make him the first overall pick.
Vikings: They want a veteran who’ll compete with J.J. McCarthy. That could make it harder to attract a veteran who’ll want a commitment that he’ll be QB1. Based on McCarthy’s performance and durability in 2025, however, most veteran quarterbacks with reasonable confidence would believe they can win a fair and square competition. If they believe the competition will be both fair and square.
Falcons: They haven’t committed to Michael Penix Jr. being the Week 1 starter, and for good reason. Penix is recovering from his latest ACL tear. Cousins could, in theory, return after being released. That seems unlikely. Another veteran is possible for the new-look football operation led by Matt Ryan, Ian Cunningham, and Kevin Stefanski.
Cardinals: The moment Kyler Murray was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury that was supposedly healing, the message was clear — it’s over for Murray in Arizona. The Cardinals owe him $36.8 million for 2026, with another $22.55 million in 2026 pay and 2027 salary hitting the books early in the 2026 league year. If not traded, he’ll be cut. Willis could be an option for the Cardinals. Rodgers potentially could be a target, too.
With the Scouting Combine beginning soon, the carousel will start moving. Coaches and General Managers who take the podium on Tuesday or Wednesday will be asked pointed questions. Agents will meet with teams.
The Browns officially named three key members of head coach Todd Monken’s first coaching staff on Friday.
They have hired offensive coordinator Travis Switzer, defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, and special teams coordinator Byron Storer.
Switzer worked under Monken in Baltimore as the Ravens’ run game coordinator. He spent the last three years in that role and was on Baltimore’s staff for nine years in total.
Rutenberg was the defensive pass game coordinator in Atlanta last year. He was the Jets’ linebackers coach for the previous four seasons.
Storer was an assistant special teams coach for the Packers the last four years. He has also worked for the Raiders, Buccaneers, and Chargers.
