Grading the Browns' 2022 offseason moves: 'A' for Amari Cooper, waiting on Deshaun Watson

BEREA — The latest offseason of questions for the Browns started after their 7-10 season ended weeks ago. They know they have work to do in order to improve that final record next season.

To get an idea on how they might approach the upcoming weeks and months, let's assess how the free-agent signings and trades made last offseason panned out for them. This won't take into account the draft picks the Browns made last April. Nor will it take into account any moves made once the season started, such as the Deion Jones trade or any number of other linebacker signings.

This is focused on what happened in the months between the end of the 2021 season and the start of the 2022 season. You may have heard of one of the moves, because it only became arguably the biggest story in the NFL and hung over the entire summer after it was made.

However, Deshaun Watson wasn't the only player the Browns acquired in that time. It's time to assess how those moves panned out.

Corey Bojorquez, punter

Bojorquez averaged 48.5 yards per punt, with a net of 41 yards. Signed as a free agent from the Green Bay Packers, he certainly had his moments in his first year in Cleveland. The biggest of those came after the Week 17 game at Washington, when he was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, one of three Browns players to receive the honor this season. Bojorquez's biggest issue was consistency, with the ability to follow up a great punt with a less-than-great one with some regularity.

Grade: B-minus

Jacoby Brissett, quarterback

Brissett is the high achiever of last offseason's acquisitions. Signed as a free agent after a season in Miami a day after the trade to acquire Watson was made, it was always the assumption that Brissett would be the quarterback for whatever time Watson missed due to a league suspension. When the league and Watson agreed to an 11-game ban, there were plenty of calls to try to go out and acquire another quarterback to come in and start. The Browns trusted Brissett, though, and he certainly validated that trust in a lot of ways. Although the team went 4-7 in Brissett's 11 starts, the offense was ranked in the top 10 in total yards and rushing yards, and just outside of the top 10 in scoring during his starts. Brissett showed teams — which including the Browns — looking for a reliable No. 2 quarterback that he's more than capable of handling the job. The only things preventing an "A" here are both the team's record and some late-game interceptions — against the Jets, Falcons and Chargers — in early season losses.

Grade: B-plus

Taven Bryan, defensive tackle

One can see what the Browns were going for when they signed Bryan to a one-year deal last spring. They saw a former first-round draft pick looking for a change of scenery after it didn't work out with his original team — the definition of a reclamation project with a low-cost, high-ceiling potential. The vision, though, never matched the reality with Bryan. In fact, he symbolized what was a season-long struggle for the Browns at defensive tackle. Although made a career-high three sacks, he also was part of a run defense that was porous for the final 14 games, in large part because of disappointing production from the defensive tackles.

Grade: D

Jadeveon Clowney, defensive end

There was a question about whether or not Clowney would be back for the 2022 season after having had a productive 2021 season on his first one-year deal with the Browns. He took it all the way to May 22 of last year before finally agreeing to sign up for a second season in Cleveland. That second season almost certainly will be his last with the Browns after the way it ended, with him essentially being suspended for the season finale in Pittsburgh for his comments to Cleveland.com. When he was on the field, Clowney actually seemed engaged, even if that didn't show in the stats with just two sacks. The problem was that he missed four games in September and October with an ankle injury, then missed another one in December due to a concussion. So, in summation, it's pretty much the quintessential Jadeveon Clowney experience. If the sack numbers would've been higher, it would've been easier to overlook the other things.

Grade: C

Amari Cooper, receiver

Considering the cost of a good top-line receiver on the free-agent or trade market, the Browns pulled off a heist of the Dallas Cowboys when they acquired Cooper last March for two fifth-round picks and a swap of sixth-rounders in last year's draft. The Browns got great production, both on and off the field, from Cooper. It wasn't just the 1,160-yard, 76-catch season earning him high marks this past season. It was a level of professionalism Cooper brought as well. That showed in the way he battled through the final five games of the season despite sustaining what he called a core muscle injury in early December. The injury clearly impacted his ability to play at 100% on a play-by-play basis, but he also didn't allow it to prevent him from playing.

Grade: A

Josh Dobbs, quarterback

Dobbs was the final piece of the puzzle in the Browns' totally revamped quarterback room last spring. The former Pittsburgh Steeler and Jacksonville Jaguar signed a one-year deal to ostensibly be the No. 3 behind Watson and Brissett. Once Watson was suspended, Dobbs moved up to be the backup. With Watson limited to just three series in the preseason opener and Brissett not playing in the preseason until the finale against Chicago, that gave Dobbs virtually all of the reps in the three exhibition games. That allowed the former University of Tennessee standout to showcase the skills he had been limited in displaying due to no real opportunities to play in the regular season in either of his previous two stops. Dobbs would not play during the 11 games Brissett started while Watson was out. When Watson returned, the Browns elected to waive Dobbs and keep Kellen Mond, who had been acquired off waivers from Minnesota after the final cutdown day in August, as the No. 3 quarterback. Dobbs would eventually be picked up on the Detroit Lions' practice squad, but then was claimed by the Tennessee Titans late in the season. Dobbs started the Titans' final two games at quarterback, going 1-1 but losing the finale at Jacksonville to cost Tennessee the AFC South title and a playoff berth.

Grade: C

Jakeem Grant, receiver/return specialist

Grant signed a two-year deal with the Browns last offseason with the expectation being that he would bolster a nonexistent return game. There was progress late in the season in that area, but it wasn't because of Grant. Unfortunately for the seven-year pro, his eighth season in the league was spent on the injured-reserve list with a torn Achilles tendon in training camp. Grant will be back for this upcoming season.

Grade: Incomplete

Ethan Pocic, center

April was barely a week old when the Browns signed Pocic to a one-year, free-agent deal after he spent five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. At the time, it was a move seen as much to provide some depth in the interior of the line as anything else. Nick Harris was penciled in to be the starting center. That plan lasted through two plays of the preseason opener in Jacksonville, when Harris sustained a season-ending knee injury. That opened the door for Pocic, who charged through it to play at a very high level. The only unfortunate knock against Pocic all season was a knee injury he sustained on the first play of a Week 11 loss to Buffalo, costing him the next four games. Now, the question is if the Browns can bring Pocic back on a longer-term deal, which both sides would like to see happen.

Grade: A-minus (The minus is due to the injury)

Deshaun Watson, quarterback

The move of the 2022 offseason is the move that will define the tenure of everyone from coach Kevin Stefanski to general manager Andrew Berry to, even, owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam. The Browns acquired Watson last March 18 from the Houston Texans along with a 2024 sixth-round pick in exchange for first-round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024, a third-round pick last year and a fourth-round pick in 2024. On top of that, they shelled out a $230-million contract that was, in an unprecedented move, fully guaranteed. This for a quarterback whom the Browns knew was going to miss some of, if not all of, the 2022 season due to more than two dozen allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct during massage appointments in 2020 and early 2021. It ended up being 11 games upon a settlement, which essentially derailed significant progress from the Browns this past season. The Watson who played the final six games looked nothing like the Watson who was a Pro Bowler for the Texans in 2019 and 2020. Save for the second half in Week 17 at Washington, there was rarely explosiveness in the passing game. Watson also showed the effects of nearly two years of not playing, especially in his pocket awareness. This deal, though, wasn't made for 2022. It was made for the subsequent years afterward.

Grade: Incomplete, but the evaluation period has officially started

Chase Winovich, defensive end

Sandwiched between the trade for Cooper and the trade for Watson was a little one-for-one deal between the Browns and New England Patriots. Cleveland sent linebacker Mack Wilson to the Patriots and got in return Winovich, a former University of Michigan standout. Winovich spent most of training camp injured then spent another seven games on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. He ended up playing in eight games, and provided some quality snaps down the stretch. Like a number of other defensive players for the Browns, Winovich is a free agent this offseason.

Grade: C-minus

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Grading the Browns 2022 offseason: From Amari Cooper to Deshaun Watson