The Browns have signed 25-year old Dan (Rob’s brother) Gronkowski.  Gronkowski played in 12 games for the Broncos last year and he caught 8 passes for 65 yards (8.1 avg).  He has now played in 14 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has caught 9 passes for 69 yards (7.7 avg).  Gronkowski is more of a blocker than a pass catcher, so he will help in the running game a lot more than the passing game for the Browns the last couple of weeks of the 2012 season.

The Browns have released 32-year old long snapper Ryan Pontbriand.  Pontbriand played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Browns this year.  He has played in 134 games (0 starts) for the Browns in his nine years with the team.  He was waived for costing the Browns good shots to win against the Rams and Bengals with terrible snaps that caused kicker Phil Dawson to miss some field goals.  The Browns have signed 23-year old long snapper Christian Yount to replace Pontbriand.  Yount is a rookie out of UCLA.  He has played in 7 games (0 starts) already this year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Browns have signed 27-year old RB Thomas Clayton.  Clayton played in 2 games for the Browns last year and he carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards.  Clayton has now played in 3 games in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 7 times for 17 yards (2.4 ypc).  Clayton could very well be the Browns’ #2 RB right away this weekend if Peyton Hillis (hamstring) isn’t ready to return to action.

The Browns have signed 25-year old RB Chris Ogbonnaya off the Houston Texans’ practice squad.  Ogbonnaya has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Texans this year and he has 3 carries for 6 yards (2.0 ypc).  He has now played in 4 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 14 times for 56 yards (4.0 ypc).  He has also caught 1 pass for 19 yards so far in his NFL career.  This move likely means that Peyton Hillis is going to miss some time due to his hamstring injury.

The Cleveland Browns have signed 37-year old punter Brad Maynard.  Maynard played in all 16 games for the Bears last year and he punted the ball 83 times for 3,326 yards (40.1 avg).  He also had only 6 touchbacks (6%) and pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 24 times (28.9%) last year.  Maynard has now played in 223 games in his first 14 years in the NFL and he has punted the ball 1,258 times for 52,739 yards (41.9 avg).  Maynard also has 99 touchbacks (7.9%) and he has pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 407 times (32.4%) in his NFL career so far.  Maynard should be a huge improvement over Richmond McGee.

The Browns have signed 32-year old G/T Artie Hicks.  Hicks played in 15 games (10 starts) for the Redskins last year.  He has now played in 109 games (68 starts) in his first 9 years in the NFL.  This was a good pickup for the Browns because Hicks can play both guard and tackle.  Don’t be surprised if he’s starting at some point in 2011.

The Cleveland Browns will be without 29-year punter Reggie Hodges for the 2011 season as he has torn his Achilles tendon.  Hodges played in all 16 games for the Browns last year and he punted the ball 78 times for 3,424 yards (43.9 avg).  He had 5 touchbacks (6.4%) and he pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 29 times (37.2%).  Hodges also had a very memorable 68 yard run last year in the Browns’ huge upset of the Saints last year.  Hodges has now played in 24 games in his first two years with the Browns and he has punted the ball 123 times for 5,213 yards (42.4 avg).  He has 8 touchbacks (6.5%) and he has pinned the opposing team inside their own 20-yard line 44 times (35.8%) with the Browns.  The Browns are going to miss Hodges as he was playing the best football of his NFL career for them.

UPDATE:  (8/4/2011) – The Browns have signed 28-year old punter Richmond McGee.  McGee has never played in a game in the NFL but he has been in camp with the Bears the last three years.

The Browns have signed 28-year old CB Dimitri Patterson.  Patterson played in all 16 games for the Eagles last year and he had 52 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 11 passes defensed and 4 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  Patterson has now played in 50 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 96 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 13 passes defensed and 5 interceptions (1 returned for a TD).  Patterson will battle for the nickel job in training camp as he is in line to be the Browns’ #3 CB as of right now.

The Browns have signed 25-year old RB Brandon Jackson to a 2-year, $4.5 million dollar deal.  Jackson played in 16 games (13 starts) for the Packers last year and he carried the ball 190 times for 703 yards (3.7 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 43 passes for 342 yards (8.0 avg) with 1 TD grab last season.  Jackson has now played in 52 games (16 starts) in his first four years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 347 times for 1,329 yards (3.8 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also has caught 110 passes for 844 yards (7.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs so far in his career.  Brandon Jackson will compete with Montario Hardesty to be the Browns’ #2 RB in 2011.  If nothing else, Jackson is a good receiver out of the backfield.  I like this signing for the Browns.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Browns have placed Brandon Jackson on the Injured Reserve List due to a case of turf toe.

The Browns have signed 26-year old safety Usama Young.  Young played in 11 games for the Saints last year and he had 23 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 3 passes defensed.  Young has now played in 52 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 106 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries, 14 passes defensed and 3 interceptions.  The Browns have a need at safety so this could be the big chance that Young has been waiting for.