Former Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey is getting another chance in the NFL.
Winfrey signed a deal on Tuesday to join the New York Jets practice squad, according to KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson. It will be Winfrey’s first opportunity since being released by the Browns in July.
The Browns snagged Winfrey with a fourth-round pick in 2022 and had high hopes for the two-time All-Big 12 selection. Winfrey appeared in 13 games as a rookie and recorded 22 tackles and half of a sack. He was expected to compete for a spot in the defensive tackle rotation with the potential to start with a strong camp.
However, Winfrey had a bevy of off-field troubles and the Browns decided to cut ties with him in July after he was named a suspect in an aggravated robbery incident. Winfrey was handed a two-game suspension by the NFL but has served that despite not being with a team.
Perrion Winfrey Has Countless Chances With Browns
Winfrey had lots of chances in Cleveland but the character issues were piling up. Browns star Myles Garrett called him out for not behaving like a pro in September 2022.
Winfrey was held out of practice one day that month for being repeatedly late, according to Brad Stainbrook of the Orange and Brown Report. He also missed at least two games as a healthy scratch stemming from “maturity reasons,” per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
“I think we all have to step up and say something, but sometimes silence speaks louder than words,” Garrett said in September of 2022. “We’ve used our voice a couple of times, and at the end of the day, he’s got to learn how to be a pro. Kevin [Stefanski] took it into his own hands, and he felt like that was the right thing to do, and I’m behind my coach’s actions totally.”
Browns Defense Thriving Under Jim Schwartz
Winfrey missed a tremendous opportunity with the Browns to play under coordinator Jim Schwartz. The veteran defensive mind has the Cleveland defense hitting on all cylinders and the Browns are coming off a dominant effort against the Cardinals. Schwartz’s unit held Arizona to just 58 total yards.
The Browns defensive tackles were sparkplugs in the beatdown. Dalvin Tomlinson notched 2.5 sacks and a pair of tackles for loss. Veteran Shelby Harris and fourth-year pro Jordan Elliott also chipped in with sacks.
“We haven’t played to our standard the last couple of weeks and I felt like this defense, we came out here today with something to prove,” Tomlinson said after the game. “We wanted to get back in the stride of things and the stepping stones of where we want to go.”
Tomlinson gave a lot of credit to Garrett, who attracts a lot of attention from opposing offenses. His 9.5 sacks rank second in the NFL and he’s only a half-sack behind Danielle Hunter for the league lead.
“Hey man, that’s Myles Garrett,” Tomlinson said. “He impacts every single play when he’s out there. Myles is one of those guys that you have to respect no matter where he is standing up, off the ball, left or right end, it doesn’t matter. He frees up a lot of stuff for the rest of us.”
The Browns defense will look to keep the momentum rolling this week for a crucial divisional matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.
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