Browns sign former Super Bowl starter

The former Super Bowl starter secured a chance with the Browns on Tuesday, according to his agency. Cleveland will see if Allen, who has battled injuries for much of his career, can contribute to an O-line that otherwise features a host of expensive pieces.

Although the Browns limped to the finish line last season up front, their line still houses high-priced guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, along with Jack Conklin‘s upper-crust right tackle salary and Jedrick Wills‘ fifth-year option. The team also paid Ethan Pocic after a productive 2022 season; the veteran center is tied to a three-year, $18M deal. Pocic received $10M guaranteed at signing last year.

Pocic’s 2023 terms matched what the Rams authorized for Allen in 2022, but the Super Bowl LVI first-stringer again ran into injury trouble. Allen, who missed seven games in 2019 and all of 2020 due to injury, did not play in 10 of the Rams’ 17 games during an injury-plagued 2022 campaign for the defending champion's O-line. 

Allen was unable to retain his starting spot last season, as the Rams went with former UDFA Coleman Shelton. Even as Shelton departed for the Bears in free agency, the Rams made Allen a cap casualty.

Pro Football Focus graded Allen as the league’s 10th-best center in 2021, offering some potential upside for the Browns. But while the former fourth-round pick made 20 starts for the Super Bowl-winning team, he played part of the season with a UCL tear in his elbow and missed a game due to an MCL sprain. 

ACL and MCL tears midway through the 2019 season ended up costing Allen all of his 2020 season, and he sustained another knee setback in Week 1 of the 2022 season. Allen, 28, suited up for only five games last season, as Shelton started all 18 Rams contests.

PFF graded Pocic as last season’s 13th-best center, and the Browns also drafted Michigan guard Zak Zinter in Round 3. The latter is coming off a season-ending broken leg sustained during Michigan’s win over Ohio State. 

As Zinter is assured of at least a swing role this coming season, the Browns will see if Allen can also become part of their equation up front.