Grading Andrew Berry’s best in-season moves for the Cleveland Browns

On Feb 17, 2023

Cleveland Browns outside linebacker Malcolm Smith (56) celebrates after breaking up a pass during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Cleveland, Ohio. [Jeff Lange/Beacon Journal]

BEREA — Much of the work done to construct the Browns over the last three seasons has been done in the offseason. That’s when the primary free-agency period is, as well as the draft.

However, that much of it, but not all.

The Browns roster has been a malleable item for a variety of reasons. Often, the moves done from the time training camp starts in late July through the final game of the season, are minor in scope.

Grading Browns’ 2020 offseason moves:Short-term successes, mostly long-term busts

Grading Browns’ 2020 draft class:Three years in and still lots of questions

Grading Browns’ 2021 offseason moves:Good Jadeveon Clowney, defensive tackle help

Grading Browns’ 2021 draft class:Greg Newsome II, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah saving day

Grading Browns’ 2022 offseason moves:‘A’ for Amari Cooper, waiting on Deshaun Watson

Grading Browns’ 2022 draft class:No A’s but optimism with rookies’ early production

However, there have been a handful of in-season moves general manager Andrew Berry has made over his first three years that have had an impact not just for that season, but even beyond. Some of those are obvious in retrospect, while others remain a mystery in some regards.

Instead of going over every move to acquire a player between late July and mid-January the last three years, let’s look at five players who Berry brought in during that time. Through the prism of hindsight, it’s time to assess how those moves ended up working out for the Browns.

2020 season

Ronnie Harrison Jr., safety

Harrison wasn’t the first player Berry acquired by trade in his role as general manager. That was fullback Andy Janovich, who was picked up in March 2020. However, Harrison proved to have a longer stay with the Browns. The safety was picked up on Sept. 3, 2020, from the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a 2021 fifth-round pick. Harrison’s first season in Cleveland was his most impactful, at least in terms of creating big plays, despite only playing 11 games in the regular season and both playoff games. He had a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown, a fumble recovery and a sack. He played 12 games in 2021, recording an interception and a sack along with 58 tackles and four tackles for loss. Harrison played his highest total of games in his three seasons with the Browns in 2022, appearing in 16 games, but he played just 25% of the team’s total defensive snaps as the No. 3 safety. Harrison is an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Grade: C-plus

Malcolm Smith, linebacker

The Browns added the veteran linebacker on what was at the time a one-year deal on Aug. 23, 2020. Smith brought another veteran presence, with the added bonus of his time as one of the key pieces of the Seattle Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” defense. The former Super Bowl MVP ended up playing 30 regular-season and two playoff games for the Browns over the span of what was a pair of one-year deals in 2020 and 2021. Smith finished with 123 combined tackles, six tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions and one forced fumble in his two seasons with the Browns. Smith didn’t play in 2022.

Grade: B-plus

2021 season

Hjalte Froholdt, offensive lineman

Froholdt’s NFL regular-season experience was limited to just eight games with the New England Patriots during the 2020 season when he was signed off the Houston Texans’ practice squad by the Browns on Oct. 5, 2021, playing in four of the next seven games. They waived him on Nov. 27 of that year, only to sign him back to the practice squad three days later. Froholdt was added to the active roster as a COVID replacement on Dec. 20, playing in two games. After signing a reserve/futures contract in January 2022, he made the active roster out of training camp. Froholdt proved to be one of the Browns’ most valuable offensive linemen after he was called into duty due to injuries not once, but twice. He filled in at right guard in place of an injured Wyatt Teller, starting two games. When center Ethan Pocic suffered a knee injury and left the Week 12 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Froholdt came on and finished out that game, while starting the next four games, at center. Froholdt is an unrestricted free agent this season.

Grade: B-plus

2022 season

Deion Jones, linebacker

The Browns defense had just been run over by the Los Angeles Chargers in a Week 5 loss when Berry got on the phone with the Atlanta Falcons to acquire Jones and a 2024 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick. At the time they traded for him, Jones was still on the injured reserve list while coming back from a shoulder injury. A 2016 second-round pick out of LSU, Jones was a Pro Bowler early in his career who also was known for his ability to get his hands on turnovers. When he was acquired, the hope was that Jones would at least fill the void left by Anthony Walker Jr.’s season-ending injury two weeks earlier, which could help the Browns mend their woeful run defense. Jones finally appeared in Week 7 at Baltimore, one of 11 games in which he…