AFC Notes: Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Browns

Browns fourth-round DE Isaiah McGuire noted that he is excited to learn from veteran pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith, who was recently acquired in a trade with the Vikings. 

“For me, it was definitely exciting,” McGuire said, via Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “Me being a rookie, coming in, having the opportunity to learn from a great vet such as Za’Darius, as well as the other people in the room, it’s truly an honor and a blessing. I’m excited to learn from those people, pick their brains and just improve overall.”

• Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot notes new Browns DE Za’Darius Smith had a lot of incentive to rework his contract to facilitate a trade from Minnesota to Cleveland. There’s a good chance the Vikings would have cut him sometime after June 1 and he would have found it challenging to make close to what he was scheduled to earn. 
• Cabot says Smith agreed to void the final year of his deal and will make $11.75 million guaranteed in 2023. As an extra kicker, the Vikings will pick up a little bit of that sum, leaving the bill for the Browns under $10 million. 

Ravens

It’s amazing how the tenor of the Ravens’ offseason shifted once they inked QB Lamar Jackson to a long-term deal. Removing that long-term uncertainty allowed the focus to shift to the extensive work Baltimore has done to revamp its offense heading into the 2023 season, hiring OC Todd Monken and charging him with unlocking a new level to Jackson’s game. Jackson said his goal is to throw for 6,000 yards, and while that’s unlikely, he has a chance at a prolific year with an offensive skill group that includes TE Mark Andrews, WRs Odell Beckham Jr., Rashod Bateman, first-round rookie Zay Flowers, Devin Duvernay and Nelson Agholor, plus RBs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards and more young TEs in Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar. 

It’s not the best skill group in the NFL but it is an intriguing one. 

“It has a chance to be exciting and fun,” Ravens HC John Harbaugh said via the Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. “It has a chance to be a winning offense — that’s what we always want to be. The expectations are always high. Like Lamar said, you go back to 2018 — that’s all you think about, is being as good as you can in every single way. This year is no exception, but I understand it’s kind of ramped up a little bit.”

Steelers

• Jeremy Fowler reports that Steelers CB Luq Barcoo did not attend a rookie minicamp but drew interest from other teams aside from Pittsburgh such as the Browns and Cowboys.