Browns Hire Former Texans Assistant
First-year head coaches often face the daunting task of filling out an entire coaching staff before they can truly get to work. Frequently, this means purging the staff they were just a part of and bringing several coaches with them to start anew. Coaches may lean on connections from previous stops, friends in the industry, and standard interview procedures. They may also choose to retain certain coaches from the previous staff. Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans took that route when retaining defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire.
Cesaire was a member of incumbent head coach Love Smith’s staff during the 2022 season. Ryans opted to rely on continuity, as much of Houston’s roster was made of young defensive players early in their development. However, it became clear this week that Cesaire was not going to return to the staff in 2024. His contract expired, and the Texans opted to let him hit the open market.
On Saturday, the Cleveland Browns hired Cesaire to be their defensive line coach – a lateral move – to replace Ben Bloom. Before coaching in Houston, Cesaire spent nearly a decade as a defensive lineman for the then-San Diego Chargers. He would coach the defensive line there from 2015 to 2019. Cesaire spent the next two seasons with the Buffalo Bills as Eric Washington’s assistant defensive line coach. His two years in Houston were fairly fruitful. The Texans ranked 18th in sacks in 2022, with 39, and improved on that total in 2023. Their 46 sacks ranked 13th in the league. Adding a star edge rusher like Will Anderson Jr. helps that cause, but Cesaire also oversaw the development of edge rusher Jonathan Greenard.
This season, Houston struggled to put together a cohesive pass rush early on, but the entire unit seemed to gel together as the playoffs approached. Now, he’ll move from one star to another, supervising Browns defensive end Myles Garrett – arguably the best defensive player in the sport.
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Deshaun Watson wants Tee Higgins to jump from Bengals to Browns
Bengals receiver Tee Higgins has worn an orange helmet for all of his four-year NFL career. If Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has his way, Higgins will still wear an orange helmet in 2024. Without the stripes.
Watson, appearing on his personal quarterback coach Quincy Avery’s podcast, made a pitch for Higgins to leave Cincinnati but not Ohio.
“We wanna pass the ball,” Watson said, via Patrick Andres of SI.com. “That’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna pass the ball a lot.”
Watson hopes to be passing the ball to Higgins, who like Watson played college football at Clemson.
“We’re gonna take good care of you,” Watson said. “The Cleveland fans are gonna love you to death. We got the Clemson ties. We ain’t get to play with each other, but this is our opportunity.”
It’s unknown whether the Browns organization would have Higgins on their radar screen, if he becomes a free agent. While his contract is expiring, the Bengals have exclusive negotiating rights for now — along with the power to apply the franchise tag.
Cleveland already has plenty of cash and cap space tied up in pass catchers. Receiver Amari Cooper has a salary of $20 million and a cap charge of $23.776 million. Tight end David Njoku counts another $9.645 million against the cap next season.
And Watson himself has a massive $63.77 million cap charge for 2024. That easily can be reduced by restructuring his $46 million salary. But that approach kicks the can, driving up his cap charges in future years. Already, the Browns have pushed $8.894 million of Watson’s five-year, fully guaranteed deal into 2027, the year after the expiration of his current contract.
Watson’s cap number for each of the next three years is currently $63.977 million. Adding a receiver at a market-value will make it harder to put enough great players around Watson, especially with so many great young receivers now entering the draft every year.
Thus, while it’s easy for players like Watson on the team to dabble in fantasy football, the reality continues to be the salary cap. There’s only so much money to go around.
The good news is that the cap keeps going up and up, making it easier for teams to absorb big contracts. It remains to be seen whether the Browns will explore giving one to Higgins — assuming the Bengals neither sign him to a long-term deal nor apply the franchise tag.
It’s hard to imagine the Bengals letting Higgins get away. Ja’Marr Chase is receiver 1A in Cincinnati, and Higgins is 1B. Even if they have to pay both guys big contracts, the Bengals would be wise to find a way to keep both of them around.
Especially if a division rival is lurking.
