Back and centered: Browns C Nick Harris grateful for return to Cleveland, ready to get to work

BEREA, Ohio — The last 24 hours have been a whirlwind for center Nick Harris.

On Saturday, in the first half of the Cleveland Browns preseason game against the Green Bay Packers, center Luke Wypler sustained a serious leg injury. Placed in an air cast and carted off the field, Wypler was quickly diagnosed with a right ankle fracture that required surgery.

While it’s still unclear if Wypler’s injury will keep him sidelined for the entire season, there will be significant time missed. And after losing Brian Allen for the foreseeable future with a calf injury he sustained at the start of training camp, depth at center was a real concern for the Browns.

So the Browns started making some calls and found themselves looking towards a familiar face.

“Two days ago, I was talking to some people and saw what might happen,” Harris said.

Harris has been in Seattle since March, signing with the Seahawks as a free agent. He was running center with the team during OTAs, minicamp and the start of training camp. Things were going well for him in Seattle, but a new opportunity now awaits him.

Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry got on the phone after Wypler’s injury Saturday, and the road led him to Harris. Making a trade with the Seahawks, the Browns sent a 2026 sixth-round pick in exchange for Harris and a 2026 seventh-round pick.

The move was made on Sunday—and a fast-paced 24 hours ensued for the once-again Brown.

“I got the news, packed up my stuff, got on a red eye, got here this morning at 6, at the walkthrough now, talking to y’all,” Harris laughed. “What this business entails, it’s got to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. So no attachment involved, got to continue to work wherever I’m at.”

It could be jarring making a move across the country twice in such a short amount of time, but Harris is embracing the moment and this opportunity to return to Cleveland.

“I’m glad to have a job. I have an opportunity to come back and just compete in a place I’m comfortable in, and it feels good to see all my teammates again and see everybody around the building. So I can’t complain at all,” he said.

The feeling is mutual for his teammates here, who reached out when the news broke.

“I got a few text messages, yes. I got a few text messages from people in the building, people on the team. So I definitely, definitely was welcomed for sure,” Harris smiled.

Head Coach Kevin Stefanski said he was happy to have Harris back on the roster, not just for what he can provide on the field but for his connections in the locker room.

“Good to see him. There’s guys that come in and play for you and work with you and give you everything they got and Nick was one of those guys. When he leaves, you wish him well, but you don’t love to lose a guy like Nick just from what he means in the locker room as well,” Stefanski said. “And then with the injury to Luke, I know Andrew worked pretty quickly on that one [to] get a guy in here that as coaches we know well, obviously his teammates know him well, and we’ll get him up to speed on some of the new things.”

Harris was out on the practice fields Monday, already getting reacclimated with the team and offense. He’ll likely get his fair share of work over the next two preseason games—the final of which will send him right back to where he just came from.

Not quite done with Seattle just yet, Harris not only needs to move some things back here to Cleveland, but he has to return to Seattle in two weeks with the Browns as they take on none other than the Seahawks in their final preseason game.

But for now, the returning Browns center is ready to put his head down and work.

“I just got to play football. Just not overthink it. It’s the same thing I was just doing, it’s just I’m on a different team now, so I just got to just get up to speed as fast as I can with what’s going on in the playbook and just go out and keep playing football, same thing,” Harris said. “I’ve learned to just kind of take this as it goes and just be grateful for opportunities. Even just coming back here, just being grateful for that and being grateful to have a job and being able to work and just play the sport that I love in any shape or fashion in any role. So I’m just glad to be able to do it.”