Chase Winovich, who played eight games for the Cleveland Browns in 2022, announced Tuesday that he was officially retiring from the NFL.
Winovich, 28, was a well-regarded edge rusher prospect out of Michigan prior to the NFL, totaling 18.5 sacks across four years with the Wolverines. He was drafted by the Patriots in the third round in 2019 and enjoyed a productive start to his career, recording 5.5 sacks as a rookie before leading New England with another 5.5-sack season in 2020.
Winovich, however, appeared to fall out of favor with the Patriots in his third NFL year and turned in a disappointing 2021 season when he failed to record a sack. He gradually saw his playing time decrease throughout the season and sparsely played at all in the final six games of the year.
The Browns gave Winovich a fresh start in 2022 when they traded LB Mack Wilson to the Patriots in a player-for-player swap in the offseason.
Winovich was expected to hold a solid role in the defense end rotation at first, but he was unable to replicate his early-career success in Cleveland and dealt with a hamstring injury in the first half of the season. He tallied one sack and 20 tackles with the Browns but wasn’t re-signed last offseason.
Winovich signed with the Texans last March and was released at the end of training camp. He signed with the Dolphins’ practice squad two days later and played three games but was released on Oct. 17.
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