It didn't take long for former Utah State running back Robert Turbin to find a new home in the NFL.
One day after Seattle waived Turbin with an injury settlement, Cleveland claimed the back off waivers on Thursday. To make room for Turbin, the Browns, who open the 2015 season on Sunday at the New York Jets, waived quarterback turned wide receiver Terrelle Pryor.
Turbin suffered a high-ankle sprain on Aug. 29 in a preseason game against San Diego and was subsequently placed on injured reserve last Saturday by the Seahawks, which would have ended his season. But with Seattle waiving Turbin with the injury settlement, it opened the door for the running back to return to the field this season, just not with the Seahawks.
Turbin, a fourth-round selection by the organization in the 2012 NFL draft, played in every regular-season game for Seattle in his three years there — starting three games last season — and rushed for 928 yards with 427 receiving yards and two touchdowns as a Seahawk. He went to the Super Bowl twice with Seattle, winning a title in Super Bowl XLVIII when the Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos 43-8.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Turbin said he will be out four to six weeks with his high-ankle sprain.
The 5-foot-10, 222-pounder joins a Cleveland backfield that includes second-year back Isaiah Crowell and rookie Duke Johnson, after the Browns traded their leading rusher last year, Terrance West, to Tennessee on Sunday. Crowell, who was second on the team with 607 rushing yards last season, is atop the depth chart. Once Turbin gets healthy, though, it appears he could vie for playing time as the most veteran and playoff-experienced back on the Cleveland team.
Pryor, who played quarterback at Ohio State from 2008-10, was selected by Oakland in the 2011 NFL supplemental draft and saw spot time on the field his first two pro seasons. In 2013, he played in 11 games for the Raiders, completing 54.7 percent of his passes for 1,798 yards, seven touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
After being traded to Seattle in the 2014 offseason, Pryor was released by the Seahawks prior to the regular season and did not play a down last year. He's spent time on the Chiefs and Bengals' rosters before being released by Cincinnati in June. Following his release there, Pryor announced via his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, he would consider a move to wide receiver to stay in the NFL, according to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport.
The Browns then claimed Pryor off waivers on June 22 and made him a wide receiver. He played in only one preseason game for Cleveland, missing time with a strained hamstring before rushing twice for nine yards against Chicago in the team's preseason finale. He made the team's 53-man roster which was announced last Saturday but five days later, Pryor was released to make way for Turbin.
"This will be a mistake by them,'' Pryor told the Plain Dealer.
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