Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry was busy on Monday, just not in the way that some people want him to be.
Rather than spending time preparing for a pointless session with the media as the Browns prepare for their bye week, Berry signed former Memphis and Mississippi tight end Caden Prieskorn to the practice squad
late Monday morning and released running back Ahmani Marshall, who was on the practice squad as an undrafted free agent.Not content to call it a day, Berry then took to the league’s
waiver wire and claimed tight end Brenden Bates off waivers from the Houston Texans.
The 6-foot-5 and 255-pound Bates is in his second NFL season after originally signing with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent. He has bounced around a lot since then, appearing in five games with the New York Jets in 2024, and then two games with the Browns, where he was targeted once but had no receptions.
Cleveland waived Bates this past August before signing him to the practice squad. The Texans poached him (as the cool kids like to say) from Cleveland in mid-September, and he played in three games with Houston, catching two passes for 23 yards and playing 35 snaps on special teams.
The Browns adding two tight ends in one day could be a sign that more moves are on the way regarding the position:
- The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 4, so this could signal that the Browns are open to trading tight end David Njoku.
- It may also be that the knee injury that sidelined Njoku for the Week 7 game against the Miami Dolphins has flared up again, and the Browns are adding some insurance in case Njoku is not feeling spry after the bye week.
- It could just be the standard roster churn that occurs every week during the NFL season.
To make room on the roster for Bates, the Browns waived cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse, who had appeared in five games this season, playing five snaps on defense and 29 snaps on special teams.
Originally a sixth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, Bernard-Converse spent two seasons with the Jets before the Browns claimed him off waivers at the end of August.
