After winning the 2023 USFL championship with the Birmingham Stallions in Canton, Ohio, on July 1, wide receiver Austin Watkins is going back to the Buckeye State for an NFL opportunity.

The former UAB standout is signing with the Cleveland Browns, his agency, Leverage Football, announced on Friday.

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The Browns won’t be in Ohio for the start of training camp, though. On Saturday, the team is flying to the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, for its first eight practices.

Cleveland’s first training-camp practice at its facility in Berea, Ohio, will happen on Aug. 1, before the Browns play the New York Jets in the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 3 in Canton.

Watkins had 16 receptions for 197 yards and one touchdown for Birmingham in seven regular-season games. Watkins’ touchdown came on a 61-yard reception on the Stallions’ first snap of the season.

Watkins has been in the NFL previously. In 2021, he sustained a broken foot in the San Francisco 49ers’ preseason opener, although he was able to join the team’s practice squad later in the season. Watkins also was on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ roster during the offseason in 2022.

At UAB, Watkins had 57 receptions for 1,092 yards and six touchdowns in 2019, becoming the third Blazers player with 1,000 receiving yards in a season. The next year, Watkins earned All-Conference USA recognition.

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