The Browns solved their problem at the center position on August 11 by getting Nick Harris back in a trade with the Seahawks.
The Browns sent the Seahawks a 2026 sixth-round draft pick and a 2026 seventh-round draft pick in exchange for Harris. General Manager Andrew Berry immediately began searching for a replacement center after Luke Wypler fractured his right ankle in the second quarter of the Browns’ preseason game against the Packers on August 10.
Harris, 25, was selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the 2020 draft. He played in 12 games as a rookie, starting one, and 11 games in 2021, starting one. Harris was a backup center to Ethan Pocic with the Browns last year, but got most of his playing time at fullback. He signed as a free agent with the Seahawks in March.
The plan for 2022 was for Harris to take over the starting center position in place of JC Tretter, who retired after the 2021 season. That plan was scrapped when Harris suffered a season-ending knee injury in the 2022 preseason.
The Browns were confident Harris was ready to start in 2022, but there was still a backup center vacancy. On April 6, 2022, about three weeks before the draft, the Browns signed Pocic, who played for the Seahawks from 2017 to 2021.
Pocic started 29 games as center for the Seahawks from 2018 to 2021. When Harris was injured, he easily took over as the Browns’ starting center. The Browns signed a three-year contract extension with Pocic in March 2023.
Originally published:
