BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns on Tuesday were awarded Paul Hazel from Jacksonville and Colton Schmidt from San Francisco. The Browns also waived linebacker Kendrick Adams, offensive lineman Dominic Alford, wide receiver Dominique Croom, defensive lineman Nicolas Jean-Baptiste, fullback Owen Marecic, offensive lineman Ryan Miller and tight end Travis Tannahill. In addition, the team placed running back Montario Hardesty on injured reserve and offensive lineman Chris Faulk on reserve/non-football injury. The Browns’ roster is currently at 75 players. All NFL teams are required to have a maximum of 53 players on their active rosters by 6 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Hazel, a 6-5, 227-pound outside linebacker from Western Michigan, was waived by the Jaguars Sunday. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by Jacksonville following the 2013 draft, he had four tackles this preseason. In college, Hazel played 49 games with 19 starts, posting 104 tackles (55 solo), 24 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks, six pass breakups, seven forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He also saw action on the WMU basketball team during the 2012-13 season. Hazel was all-county in both football and basketball at South Miami (Fla.) High School. Schmidt, a 5-11, 220-pound punter in his rookie season out of California-Davis, originally signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent on July 15. He appeared in all three of San Francisco’s preseason games and booted four punts for 201 yards (50.3 average) with a net of 47.0 yards, landing two inside the 20-yard line. At UC-Davis, Schmidt set a school record with a 41.1-yard career gross average. A native of Bakersfield, Calif., he graduated from Liberty High School. On Monday, the team waived defensive back Vernon Kearney, defensive lineman Dave Kruger, wide receiver Cordell Roberson and linebacker Tommy Smith. The team also terminated wide receiver Jordan Norwood and placed running back Dion Lewis on injured reserve.
