Former Ohio State defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. has officially become a member of the National Football League, signing on Friday his rookie contract with the Cleveland Browns.
Hall, who is the last of the Browns’ six-player 2024 draft class to officially join the team, signed a four-year deal worth $7,069,828 with a signing bonus of $1,961,692, according to Spotrac.
Hall, a Garfield Heights, Ohio native, signed with his hometown team after being selected by the franchise with the 54th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft on April 26. He was the second Buckeye taken off the board, trailing only wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., who was picked by the Arizona Cardinals with the fourth overall selection in the first round, as well as the second of four Buckeyes taken, joining tight end Cade Stover (pick No. 123, Houston Texans) and linebacker Tommy Eichenberg (No. 148, Las Vegas Raiders).
Hall was also the last Ohio State 2024 draftee to sign their rookie contract. Eichenberg (four years, $4.36 million) and Stover (four years, $4.76 million) were both signed to their respective franchises on May 9, while Harrison agreed to a four-year, $35.37 million deal with the Cardinals on May 23.
Now an official member of the Browns, Hall will now look to make a name for himself this summer on a loaded Cleveland defensive line that features reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year and three-time NFL All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett and 10-year NFL defensive tackle Shelby Harris, among others.
Hall — who played at Ohio State from 2021-23, racking up 45 tackles and six sacks in 28 games — will begin his quest to crack the Browns’ defensive line rotation during the final week of July when the franchise begins training camp.
This is not the only former Buckeye the Browns added last week. Cleveland also signed former Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis on Friday to a currently unknown contract.
Davis, a former third-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2021 NFL draft, has struggled to find success in his first few years in the league. Davis played just six games on special teams for Minnesota during his rookie season and was waived by the franchise ahead of the 2022 season. He then bounced around the league in 2022, playing one game apiece for the Cardinals, New Orleans Saints and New York Giants before being waived and placed on injured reserve for the Giants before the 2023 season, a year in which he spent not on a roster.
Davis, who was a two-time first-team All-American at Ohio State in a career spanning four years (2017-2020), will now get the chance to revitalize his career on a Browns team that features six former Buckeyes, including Hall, safety Ronnie Hickman, offensive tackle Dawand Jones, cornerback Denzel Ward and center Luke Wypler.
