The Cleveland Browns signed cornerback Tony Brown on Tuesday, the NFL team announced.

The former Alabama defensive back had been an NFL free agent since Jan. 9, after being waived by the Indianapolis Colts.

By signing what has been reported as a one-year deal, Brown rejoins Bubba Ventrone, the Cleveland special-teams coordinator who held that position with the Colts in 2022, when Brown had 303 special-teams plays with Indianapolis.

The Browns had three players log at least 350 special-teams plays in 2023. While safety D’Anthony Bell returns for 2024, cornerback Mike Ford signed with the Houston Texans in free agency and linebacker Matthew Adams remains a free agent.

In 12 games in the 2023 season, Brown had 10 tackles, the first interception of his NFL career and a forced fumble. He was on the field for 56 defensive snaps and 252 special-teams plays for the Colts.

Indianapolis suspended Brown and wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie for the final three games of the season on Dec. 19 “for conduct detrimental to the team.”

Colts coach Shane Steichen declined to reveal the reason for the suspensions, saying the next day: “It’s a matter that we’re handling internally, and I got nothing to add on that. … There’re standards around here, and we got to hold people accountable. That’s it.”

Indianapolis lifted Brown’s suspension on Jan. 8, then waived the cornerback. The Colts also lifted McKenzie’s suspension, but the wide receiver was not waived. McKenzie signed with the New York Giants after becoming a free agent last week.

Since entering the NFL as an undrafted rookie from Alabama’s 2017 CFP national-championship team, Brown has played in 61 NFL regular-season games and has more than twice as many special-teams plays as defensive snaps.

Brown played on two CFP national championship teams at Alabama, and he had an interception in his final game with the Crimson Tide — a 26-23 overtime victory against Georgia in the national-title game for the 2017 season.

Brown went to training camp with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018. After the Chargers released Brown at the end of the preseason, he landed on the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad before being signed for the active roster in the fourth week of the 2018 season.

Brown had 34 tackles, five pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a tackle for loss as he played 287 defensive snaps in 11 games for Green Bay. In his 50 NFL regular-season games since then, Brown has played 207 defensive snaps.

Brown played in nine games for Green Bay in 2019, and he did not play after Nov. 24. He appeared on the Packers’ injury report with a heel problem for the first three weeks of December.

The Cincinnati Bengals claimed Brown off waivers on Dec. 30, 2019, after Green Bay released him the day before its final regular-season game.

With Cincinnati in 2020, Brown played in 13 games. But he did not survive the cut to the regular-season roster limit after the 2021 preseason and spent time on the practice squads of the Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders without getting into a game that season.

Brown signed with the Colts in 2022. He started the season on the practice squad but joined the active roster in the second week and played in a career-high 16 games.

Brown re-signed with Indianapolis last offseason.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.