Cleveland Browns Add Isaiah Bond as “Bad Boy” Roster Keeps Growing

Cleveland Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins will not face charges for his July arrest for misdemeanor battery in Florida.

Just hours after that news became public, former Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond had his charges for sexual assault dropped. He promptly posted a statement on social media thanking Browns general manager Andrew Berry and owner Jimmy Haslam for the opportunity — alluding to the fact that he signed with the team.

However, according to multiple NFL insiders, the signing of Bond is not official and he might have jumped the gun. But it certainly feels like Cleveland might be doing a little bit more than just “due diligence” on the former Texas receiver, who would have been a second- or third-round pick before his sexual assault charges surfaced before April’s draft, causing him to go undrafted.

Despite charges being dropped for Judkins — who is the lone rookie of the 2025 NFL Draft class to not sign his contract — the league is still reportedly investigating the domestic battery allegations against him, meaning he could still face punishment and suspension.

Just last year, Cleveland’s second-round pick, defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr., had domestic violence charges dropped and still found himself suspended for five games of his rookie season. There is certainly precedent for the league to suspend a player who does not face legal action.

The Browns just might be trying to become the bad boys of the NFL. It’s the one thing they are consistent at.

Since the Browns hired Berry in 2020, he has drafted just one Pro Bowl player but has added almost 10 players with off-the-field issues.

The most high profile of them all was the unprecedented trade for Deshaun Watson, who faced an 11-game suspension for inappropriate activity in massages from more than two dozen women. Former third-round pick Perrion Winfrey was released after a woman captured him on video chasing her with a weapon. Just this offseason, they added Judkins and Bond, while starting linebacker Devin Bush dealt with his own domestic violence case.

The unfortunate part about the NFL is that these issues are not exclusive to the Browns. Plenty of teams take fliers on players with questionable off-the-field characteristics if it means winning football games. But unfortunately for the Browns, these troubled players have not equated to wins.

FanDuel has Cleveland’s win total at 5.5 games — virtually no real expectations for them to do anything of note this season. That’s after they won only three games in 2024. The Watson trade and extension hurt the team so badly that they’re in the middle of a rebuild with no clear-cut plan to replace the quarterback who is sitting injured on their roster, eating at the team’s cap space.

Being the villains of the NFL could be a fun storyline, but you have to win games. Otherwise, you’re just a punching-bag organization without any character to fall back on.