How Do Bowe, Hartline Signings Impact Other Cleveland Browns' WRs?

The Cleveland Browns made two important offensive acquisitions in the first two weeks of free agency, bringing on a pair of veteran receivers—Dwayne Bowe and Brian Hartline.

Both are deep threats, and both provided much-needed on-field experience to a receiving corps that is otherwise young and inexperienced. However, those young and inexperienced receivers played important roles in Cleveland in 2014, and those roles could be significantly reduced by the Bowe and Hartline acquisitions.

Add in a rookie, and the receiving depth chart should be one to watch for the Browns as the offseason unfolds.

Five wideouts did the bulk of the heavy lifting in the Browns' passing game last year—Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel, Miles Austin, Travis Benjamin and Josh Gordon. Of the five, Hawkins, Gabriel and Benjamin remain. But all three are unlikely to have the same amount of playing time they did a year ago.

Player	Snaps	Tgts.	Rec.	Rec.%	Yds.	TD
Hawkins	667	113	67	55.8%	824	2
Gabriel	629	71	36	50.7%	621	1
Austin*	544	70	47	67.1%	568	2
Benjamin	394	46	18	39.1%	314	3
Gordon*	242	47	24	51.0%	303	0

According to Pro Football Focus, Hawkins led the Browns in snaps played in 2014, with 667. He was also the team's leading receiver, with 63 catches for 824 yards and two touchdowns.

Gabriel wasn't far behind, with 629 snaps played and 36 receptions for 621 yards and one touchdown. Austin played 544 snaps, and caught 47 passes for 568 yards and two scores. Benjamin caught only 18 passes on his 394 snaps played, while Gordon had 24 catches for 303 yards on his 242 snaps.

Without question, the Hartline-Bowe tandem should more than make up for the 786 snaps and 71 catches lost to Austin leaving in free agency and Gordon serving a minimum one-year suspension. But they could also cut into the playing time of Gabriel and Benjamin—potentially to the point that one or both are off the roster by the time Week 1 arrives.

Though both Hartline and Bowe were signed to modest, two-year contracts, that does not belie how involved the Browns want them to be this year. And given that both played over 800 snaps apiece last year for the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively, it's likely both will play major roles again in 2015.

The reason why Gabriel and Benjamin seem likely to take the biggest hits to their playing time this year is because they fill the same niche as Hartline and Bowe—deep-passing targets. Gabriel averaged 17.3 yards per reception last year and Benjamin, 17.4.

Further, both saw most of their targets coming on the deep end of the field, with Gabriel's average depth of target being 14.5 yards and Benjamin's 19.3 yards.

Player	Snaps	YPR	aDOT
Gabriel	629	17.3	14.5
Benjamin	394	17.4	19.3
Bowe	812	12.6	9.4
Hartline	836	12.2	11.6

Though Bowe and Hartline had low average target depths in 2014 (9.4 for Bowe and 11.6 for Hartline) that was mainly a result of quarterbacks and schemes. Both averaged over 12 yards per reception. Further, Hartline has a career average of 14.2 yards per reception and Bowe, 13.4 yards.

Given that Gabriel caught 50.7 percent of the passes thrown to him last year and Benjamin just 39.1 percent, it makes sense that the pair would see their snaps and targets eaten into by the presence of Hartline and Bowe. But the signings also impact Hawkins, potentially relegating him back to the slot receiver position he briefly manned in his time with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Benjamin's low catch percentage may see him off the roster if he cannot reestablish his worth as a kick or punt returner. Meanwhile, the promising Gabriel could see his development stymied by the two veteran additions. He could suddenly be on the margins of the Browns offense just a year removed from looking like an up-and-coming talent.

That's the risk teams take in free agency. Veteran signings can often force home-grown talent down the depth chart. Given the short-term, low-risk contracts given to Bowe and Hartline, whatever demotions are coming may not be long-lasting.

But players like Gabriel and Benjamin may not be afforded that time. Roster spots are valuable, and cuts will inevitably trim the Browns roster down to 53 men by Week 1. There is no chance that the Browns will be using nine roster spots on wide receivers come September as they are right now.

So, now it's up to players like Gabriel and Benjamin to differentiate themselves and prove their value to the Browns, or else the signings of Bowe and Hartline could spell the ends of their respective tenures in Cleveland.