On Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns announced that they have signed two kickers to reserve/future deals: K Travis Coons and K Carey Spear. They join veteran K Garrett Hartley on the roster for now; Hartley was signed for the final three weeks of the regular season. Unless the team re-signs him, he will become an unrestricted free agent in March.
Coons was an undrafted free agent who spent training camp with the Tennessee Titans. Coons had beaten out K Maikon Bonani in a battle of undrafted kickers during camp, but head coach Ken Whisenhunt preferred a veteran kicker. When the Chiefs cut K Ryan Succop, the Titans immediately said goodbye to Coons, who was 2-of-3 in the preseason.
Spear was an undrafted rookie free agent who spent training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is a local kid out of Mayfield Village; he graduated from Mayfield High School. He didn't attempt a kick during the preseason and was said to be "noticeably bad in training camp." During a joint practice between the Eagles and Patriots with super-narrow goalposts, CSNPhilly.com said that he missed 10-of-11 attempts. He did have the nickname "Murderleg" from his college days for the big leg he possessed and the vicious hits he delivered.
If I had to guess, the Browns will evaluate who does better between Coons and Spear during OTAs, cut one of them, and then re-sign Hartley for a kicking competition.
In other special teams roster moves, the team had signed LS Charley Hughlett from the Chiefs practice squad last week. The move was made because Cleveland wants Hughlett to compete with LS Christian Yount this offseason.