The latest Cleveland Browns news and notes from around the NFL in the Saturday Dawg Chow.
The Cleveland Browns wrapped up their second week of OTAs on Friday.
Now comes the next big test for the rookies as mandatory veteran minicamp will take place for three days in Berea starting on Tuesday. That means everyone will be in attendance, so all the pearl-clutching about Myles Garrett can take a break for a few days.
It also provides the first opportunity for rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders to take some reps against the first-team defense. That is, if head coach Kevin Stefanski decides that is the proper course of action.
But until we get there, let’s kick off the weekend with the latest news about the Browns and the NFL in today’s edition of the Saturday Dawg Chow.
Dawgs By Nature:
- Full story on Browns Joel Bitonio retirement decision, future (Barry Shuck) – Losing 14 games after tasting success the season before became Joel Bitonio’s kryptonite. Was he done? At the end of the season, he took some time to decide if he wanted to continue playing professional football.
- Where do Browns defenders rank on PFF’s Top 32 lists? (Thomas Moore) – After a down year, only four members of Cleveland’s defense make the cut at their respective positions.
- Browns GM Andrew Berry, Jaguars GM James Gladstone talk big trade, keeping it quiet (Jared Mueller) – The Cleveland Browns big trade of the 2025 NFL Draft, for Travis Hunter, was helped by an unknown Jacksonville Jaguars GM.
Cleveland Browns:
- Dawand Jones working on becoming a lean, mean left tackle machine (Browns Zone) – Dawand Jones’ new physique is an attempt to better suit his new position. Jones, who’s listed at 6-foot-8, 374 pounds, is noticeably fitter and being counted on by the Cleveland Browns to play left tackle this season and protect the blindside of whichever quarterback wins the competition — unless it’s left-handed rookie Dillon Gabriel.
- Bubba Ventrone says Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins has ‘clean slate’ entering ‘new season’ (Beacon Journal) – The second year of Dustin Hopkins kicking for the Cleveland Browns was not a carbon copy of his first. Not even close, in many ways.
- How the Browns are teaching their new dawgs this old trick (cleveland.com) – The Cleveland Browns are teaching their new dawgs old tricks with coach Kevin Stefanski’s “return to toughness” mantra for 2025. All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio, for one, is here for it.
NFL:
- Why film study is key for Bears QB Caleb Williams (ESPN) – The day after Caleb Williams’ rookie season ended with a win over the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Bears quarterback unpacked the triumphs and struggles of a roller-coaster season.
- Tom Rafferty, a Dallas Cowboys stalwart known for ‘doing the right thing,’ dies at 70 (Dallas Morning News) – Tom Rafferty, a stalwart in the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive line whose career bridged generations from Roger Staubach to Troy Aikman and who was so tough he taught himself to walk again in middle age after a neurological disorder left him with no feeling below the waist, died Thursday at 70 in Windsor, Colo., after a stroke.
- Taking a look at the Steelers offense with Aaron Rodgers finally in the fold (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) – Will the 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers team up with DK Metcalf to lead them to a playoff victory for the first time since 2016?