Julian Okwara is a Notre Dame-bred edge rusher who re-signed with the Cleveland Browns ahead of the 2026 season.
Julian Okwara entered the NFL as a third-round pick out of Notre Dame and spent his early years developing as a pass rusher with the Detroit Lions. After joining Cleveland in 2025, he spent much of the season on the practice squad. The Browns re-signed him in March 2026.
Path to the league
Okwara played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Across four seasons in Detroit he appeared in 38 games with four starts, recording nine sacks, 12 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits and an interception.
2025 season
Okwara signed with the Cleveland Browns on April 14, 2025. He was released during final roster cuts on August 26 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day, spending much of 2025 there. On March 18, 2026, the Browns re-signed him for the upcoming season.
Sources
- Cleveland Browns: Browns re-sign DE Julian Okwara
- ESPN: Julian Okwara player page
Statistics
2025 season and career▶Defense · career
| Year | Team | GP | TOT | SOLO | SACK | INT | FF | FR | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | cardinals | 13 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | lions | 9 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022 | lions | 10 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | lions | 13 | 27 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2020 | lions | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive End
- Group
- defense
- College
- Notre Dame
- Hometown
- Charlotte, NC, USA
- Age
- 28
- Status
- active
