The Browns have added some depth to their running back room two days ahead of the NFL's cutdown day on Tuesday.
Cleveland has acquired running back Pierre Strong Jr. from the New England Patriots in exchange for offensive tackle Tyrone Wheatley Jr . The team made the official announcement of the deal early Sunday afternoon.
"That was an opportunity that came our way and feel good about adding Pierre," Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said on a Zoom call Sunday. "Somebody that we've done a bunch of work on. We'll see how quickly we can get him up to speed. This is what happens, as you know, around this time and really throughout the season, you start to add players and it's our job to ramp them up as quickly as possible so they can understand our language, how we operate, so they can help us potentially down the line."
Strong rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries last season. The South Dakota State product was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2022.
Wheatley had been in a backup tackle battle with James Hudson III and rookie Dawand Jones in camp. However, he was ultimately expendable as the fifth option at tackle on the roster.
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Strong assumes the role of No. 3 running back in the Browns pecking order behind Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford . Ford has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for the last three weeks, but is still expected to be ready for the Sept. 10 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals .
In the passing game, Strong also added seven catches for 42 yards. He played in 15 games as a rookie.
The Browns had tried a variety of different options throughout the preseason. That included their own young and/or inexperienced backs such as John Kelly Jr. or Demetric Felton Jr., as well as backs with NFL experience in Jordan Wilkins .
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns trade for Pierre Strong Jr. from Patriots for offensive tackle
