Cleveland Browns Sign Center Evan Brown
In the Cleveland Browns announcement that they had officially signed defensive tackle Andrew Billings, they also noted that they had signed center Evan Brown. Brown gives the Browns a true center to put behind J.C. Tretter. He spent his rookie season with the New York Giants after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Methodist University. Last season, he was with the Miami Dolphins where he appeared in three games.
Brown came out of SMU as a great athlete for the center position, which has him in the exact same mold as Tretter when he entered the NFL out of Cornell. Tretter not only fits the wide zone scheme the Browns are going to utilize, he provides some extras that make him that much more attractive. He is a player that can pull, being utilized in running schemes that ask him to get out in front of a play as a blocker. It also enables the Browns to use him in some creative pass protections where they move the pocket dramatically.
Brown isn't quite as agile as Tretter, but he has a lot of the same athletic traits that would make a team running this type of offense like him. Brown won't turn 24 until September, so if he can show them enough to stick on the roster and thrive, he could be someone they develop within their system for a few years and potentially take over for Tretter when he leaves, getting an excellent mentor along the way.
In the mean time, Brown provides them badly needed depth at center. Teams usually want to carry three players into a game that can snap. They've mentioned the possibility that Drew Forbes and Wyatt Teller could snap, but this gives them another dedicated center that's only focused on playing the pivot.
