Cleveland Browns Place Linebacker On IR, Sign Replacement

The Cleveland Browns have swiped a linebacker off the Las Vegas Raiders' practice squad. The team announced the signing of linebacker Reggie Ragland today and placed linebacker Sione Takitaki on injured reserve in a corresponding move.

We have placed LB Sione Takitaki on injured reserve and signed LB Reggie Ragland
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) December 7, 2022

Takitaki suffered a knee injury in the Browns' Week 13 win over the Houston Texans. He had appeared in 12 games for the team this year, starting eight. He ranked second on the team with 71 combined tackles. He was the team's 80th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Ragland hasn't played a regular season snap this year, but he provides experience as a thumping presence at inside linebacker. He initially entered the league as the Buffalo Bills' 41st overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft after four years with Alabama. He tore his ACL during his first training camp, and the Bills traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs the following offseason, where he played three years. He played for the Detroit Lions in 2020 and the New York Giants in 2021, appearing in every game and starting sporadically.

Takitaki and Ragland are both essentially replacement-level rotational linebackers, so the swap shouldn't prove too devastating for the Browns once Ragland gets up to speed. Until then, he could be an exploitable matchup for the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens over the next two weeks.