The Cleveland Browns have agreed to acquire offensive tackle Tytus Howard from the Houston Texans for a fifth-round pick, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Monday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the teams have not announced the deal, which can not become official until the start of the NFL's new league year on March 11.
Howard, who will be going into his eighth season, is also expected to get a three-year
extension worth $63 million. He was a first-round pick by Houston in 2019 and has 93 regular-season starts.
Howard is expected to take over at right tackle, but has also played at left tackle and right guard.
The trade is also Cleveland's first step in rebuilding an offensive line where most of its starters are free agents. The Browns started 10 different line combinations last season because of injuries.
Left tackle Dawand Jones is the lone returning Week 1 starter, but is recovering from knee surgery. Left guard Joel Bitonio, the only lineman to start all 17 Browns games last season, has not decided whether to retire after 12 seasons or possibly re-sign.
General manager Andrew Berry said during last week's NFL Scouting Combine that he liked the model the Chicago Bears used last year in addressing their offensive line.
Chicago had four new starters, with two acquired via a trade, one in free agency and a second-round pick. The Bears also had a new coach last year in Ben Johnson along with a holdover GM in Ryan Poles.
The Browns hired Todd Monken as their new head coach after firing Kevin Stefanski, while Berry goes into his seventh season as general manager.
“If you think about it, they did a combination of internal development, veteran editions and draft, right?” Berry said about the Bears. “You had Darnell Wright, who he really came into his own at right tackle this past year. They traded for Joe Thuney, they traded for Jonah Jackson, they signed (Drew) Dalman in free agency and they drafted Ozzy Trapilo in the second round. So it's a nice mixture of youth and experience and I think that we would look to take a similar approach if the player markets line up for us.”
Cleveland has nine picks in next month's draft, including the sixth and 24th selections in the first round.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
