Cleveland Browns Tackle Dawand Jones Trimmed Down Ahead of Year Four

Cleveland's relationship with tackle Dawand Jones has been up and down for his now three seasons in Cleveland. The 6'8" mammoth of an offensive tackle was Cleveland's fourth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft from Ohio State. Many Browns fans were familiar with Jones from his time in Columbus, but few realized how much of an impact he would have on Cleveland's roster right away.

In the 2023 season, Jones had no time to settle in. In Cleveland's opening game against the Cincinnati Bengals, starting right tackle Jack Conklin went down with a major knee injury, and Jones was immediately thrust into action. He played very well in his first action and continued to play solid football in nine starts his rookie year until he suffered a season-ending MCL injury.

There was promise, and Cleveland was starting to feel good about their future at the tackle position. The 2024 season rolled around, and it was nearly the same story as 2023. Starting left tackle Jedrick Wills never recovered properly from a 2023 knee injury, and he ended up missing most of 2024.

Jones filled in for him and did okay at the position, but did not totally live up to expectations. Wills decided to sit out the entire 2025 season, so the left tackle position was Jones' from the start, and it was not good. He showed up to camp overweight, some reports saying that he was close to 400 pounds, and he looked it.