The Cleveland Browns held off Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-24, in a Week 4 game that stayed tight until the end. Adin Huntington was part of the reason it went Cleveland’s way. The Browns defensive tackle brought down Aaron Rodgers for a sack, which has now been classified as an illegal play.
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“Browns DT Adin Huntington was fined $5,620 for his sack of Aaron Rodgers in Week 4, which the NFL deemed a hip-drop tackle,” Daniel Oyefusi posted on X.
Rodgers was sacked by Huntington on a third-and-5 in the third quarter. This was his second on the QB that night, after the first sack was removed because of a penalty on Cleveland’s Sam Williams.
The hip-drop tackle was banned in 2024. According to the league, it happens when a defender “wraps up a ball carrier and rotates or swivels his hips, unweighting himself and dropping onto the ball carrier’s legs during the tackle.” In the footage capturing the play, Huntington alone is seen getting his hands around Rodgers before bringing him to the ground.
Huntington had flown under the radar this offseason, but he found an opportunity in the Pittsburgh game. Mason Graham and Mike Hall Jr. both got hurt, which handed Huntington a career-high 49 snaps. Last year, he recorded a total of 158 defensive snaps.
Huntington ended the night with four total tackles and his first full NFL sack.
The former Tulane lineman has already become a factor on passing downs thanks to his quickness off the edge, and his role should keep growing. That matters now, because Cleveland has things to sort out before Sunday’s game against the Jets.
Neither Graham nor Hall has practiced this week after getting hurt against Pittsburgh. Graham sprained his MCL and ankle and will be evaluated week to week, while Hall hurt his ankle but returned to finish the game and recorded his first sack of the season. Both have been ruled out against the Jets.
A fine like that probably won’t rattle the young DT, and he wasn’t the only player dealing with one after Week 4.
Three Browns players fined for celebration against Steelers
NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported that quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back Quinshon Judkins were each fined more than $14,000 for a smoking gesture, and offensive lineman Austin Barber was fined too.
It started in the second quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Judkins ran in from two yards out to put Cleveland ahead, and the end zone turned into a party. He brought his fingers to his mouth as if smoking, then passed the pretend object to Barber, who had come over for a high five. Barber made the gesture back and tossed the imaginary object to the ground.
Barber was fined $6,944.
The timing is awkward. Earlier this week, the NFL and the players’ union said celebrations “imitating drinking a beverage” would not count as violations. That would mean the fine on 49ers star Kyle ‘Juice’ Juczszyk would not have been levied, as he had made a ‘juice drinking’ gesture celebrating a play. It has since been rescinded.
The same statement listed what is still off limits: gestures showing violence, smoking, drug use, or anything sexual. Those can bring a 15-yard penalty, a fine, or both.
The league filed all three fines under “Unsportsmanlike Conduct,” with the description “Illegal celebrations and vulgar acts.”
Cleveland is not the first to learn this. Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was reportedly fined for four counts of a similar gesture during the loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2. Harmless in the moment, maybe, but the bills keep arriving.