DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns Trade for RT Tytus Howard

What I see is a guy that has started every NFL game he wasn't injured over a 7 year career with the same team, including 32 games the past two seasons. Despite the PFF talking head grades, the one thing that is really measurable is number of plays and how clean was your QB. How much he factored into a 3.9 ypc carry is a hell of a lot more difficult to measure.

Browns rushing over the last two years 2025 97 yards/gm, 2024 94 yds/gm. The line sucked, but it was an even bigger indicator that the team was playing from behind and they were passing way too much.

Texans rushing yards per game? 2025 109 and 2024 117, so hell, by this assessment, he is going to improve the run game also. I know that's not true, but come one, neither does saying this guy sucks because he was taken from one of the worst lines in the NFL.

At the end of the day, we all know the Browns line has performed horribly since Callahan left. Despite that, Bitonio is still one of the better guards in the NFL, he doesn't suck because the rest of the line did.

We have a major positive to talk about the new RT for the Browns, he doesn't get the QBs jersey dirty. Isn't that a great thing when we are trying to develop a young QB with a penchant for holding the ball too long?

It isn't Koolaid, it is a mere fact that was shared with the group, he doesn't give up sacks. Let's focus on the more depressing fact... We are 1 down and 4 to go to having a full line come opening day. Whether Bitonio fills one of those spots is still in the air, so there is a lot of work to do. It has to start somewhere and you aren't going to get All Pro players in every spot, let's fall back to earth.

I agree. This was a starting right tackle on a playoff team. Let that sink in for a while. Starter on a playoff team. Traded to free up cap space and not for performance issues.

j/c...

Another perspective. From Seth Walder...

2026 NFL trade grades:
Seth Walder Mar 2, 2026, 01:25 PM ET

Texans trade OT Howard to Browns

Browns get: OT Tytus Howard
Texans get: 2026 fifth-round pick

Browns grade: D+
Texans grade: A-

One starting offensive lineman down, four more to go for the Browns. In acquiring Howard, an offensive tackle who has occasionally kicked inside to guard in his seven NFL seasons, Cleveland starts the massive rebuild of its offensive line. But was it worth it? I have a hard time seeing how.

With six offensive line free agents, the Browns are going to look significantly different in the trenches in 2026, and they're right to jump on this right away. There's a good chance the Browns will have a young, developing player at quarterback -- be it Shedeur Sanders or someone else -- and it's critical to keep that player upright.

Howard's exact role is unknown due to his flexibility and how the Browns' address their other holes upfront, but right tackle seems like the safest bet since it's where he has most frequently played.

Howard ranked in the 24th percentile in pass block win rate at tackle and the 31st percentile in run block win rate at tackle last season. He was also below average in both in 2024. That hasn't always been the case -- Howard ranked in the top 10 overall in pass block win rate at tackle in 2021 and 2022. But we're several seasons removed from that, and he scored poorly in run blocking in each of those seasons.

So the Browns are likely getting a below-average starter. And he isn't cheap. Howard is slated to make $17.5 million in 2026 (the final year of his deal) and is now signing a two-year, $45 million extension, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Browns sat at less than $1 million under the 2026 cap prior to this deal, per OverTheCap.com, though their cap obligations lighten quite a bit in 2027. But is this where they want to spend their resources, dealing a fifth-round pick to pay what might be an over-market deal for a below-average starter? That's not how I'd want to kick off the offseason.

This continues a recent pattern of offensive line turnover for the Texans, but I don't mind this move for them. Houston needs better blocking, both to protect quarterback C.J. Stroud and generate a running game to support him. It was last in the NFL (32nd) in run block win rate, 30th in pass block win rate and 26th in yards gained before contact on running back rushes last season.

Howard played both right tackle and left guard for the Texans, who have plenty of open spots along the offensive line, with both Ed Ingram and Trent Brown set to be free agents. They'll need to add offensive line help at some point and must set aside money to pay edge rusher Will Anderson Jr -- and probably Stroud, too. So getting a fifth-round pick to not pay Howard seems like good business.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...es-latest-best-worst-deals-draft-outlook

I don't get all caught up in the slide-rule mechanics of psycho-analyzing contracts against cap space and the other "blah, blah, blah"; on the surface this contract seems "high", but all new contracts and extensions will probably seem high while teams adjust to the new cap number.

That said, we got a versatile starter that our guys obviously believe can improve; the Texans got an 8% chance to find an NFL starter. That doesn't seem like a A-/D+ scenario to me. j/s

I agree 100%

The Texans did it because they don't do contracts the way Berry does them. He is one of a few GMs with owners willing to spend cash to optimize and manipulate the salary cap. He has a lot of control in improving this team. Now, he needs to succeed in winning or Haslem is going to eventually understand that he knows numbers, but not players, but until that happens Berry can take advantage of a lot of situations that other GMs don't have control of cash. Hell, some teams are strapped to staying above the cap floor in order to not get penalized and that is all the leeway they have.

I know most people can't stand Jimmy Haslem, but when it comes to spending money to help this team improve, the guy gives management a blank check.

I agree FATE, I would rather take a guy with 93 career starts at the age of 29 than resting in the hands of a 5th round draft pick. You can still take that 5th rounder to develop, but he sure as heck won't be ready to step in day 1 of the 2026 season. We had (3) 5th round draft picks, there are still (2) for those developmental guys. We don't have enough picks to fill all 5 spots in the first two rounds of the draft where the success rate rises enough to risk it.

One of the lesser told stories this off season is that a LOT of teams are looking to the draft and free agency for OL makeovers.

Browns, Giants, Patriots, Raiders, Lions, Broncos, Bills, Panthers, Chargers, Eagles, Rams, and Texans are all potentially looking for 2 (or more) new starters. Several of these are looking for 3 or more.

Colts, Vikings, Dolphins, Cardinals, Bears, Bengals, Packers, Cowboys, Titans & Chiefs (who just cut their pretty terrible RT this morning) are all looking for at least 1.

That's well more than 1/2 the league looking for new starters. Some of these teams will re-sign their own FA's that they're NOT in love with or are old simply because of slim pickin's, but they're actively looking. I read a few pieces last season about the trend of DL's owning the OL's pretty much league-wide last year. We certainly saw it in the Superbowl, did we not? All of it adds up to this being very much a sellers market and we might see early runs on OL in this draft. Given our need at WR early, and likely a few of them, I think we're going to be turning over a lot of rocks, maybe kissing some frogs. FA tackles are a thin group every year, even just depth guys. Ones that are just durable are worth a lot more than they probably should be.

Incidentally, if they go to an 18 game season after next year this will only get worse. Of all the position groups that I worry about injury with the addition of games, it's the OL that concerns me most. They're going to have to allow expanded team depth and more time for OL rotations or lots of teams' OLs are going to start looking like the 2025 Browns. The longer they make the seasons, the more defensively dominant they become, and not a small part of that is because those big OL bodies break down.

True. It’s so bad Jedrick Wills will probably sign with someone!

If he's healthy he'll definitely get another shot. He's only 27. He wasn't terrible, just mediocre and over drafted. If he was 3rd or 4th round pick people would have had a very different take. As a depth guy, he'd be a great pickup. As a starter he left a lot to be desired but don't forget that he was a part of an awesome OL as a unit. Yes, maybe the weakest member but he wasn't an abject liability. Just sorta ok for most of his tenure.

Well as I said, I will see how he plays . Being available is a plus, something we haven't had the pleasure of enjoying from most starting OL for 2 or 3 years. Not giving up a sack is great but it doesn't tell the whole story, and while you and others embrace that metric I don't think it's quite fair to then dismiss PFFs metric out of hand, they are a well respected analysis tool that I believe every team in the NFL pays for and uses.