Center Nick Harris is coming back to the Browns.

Harris, who was a fifth-round pick of the Browns in 2020 out of the University of Washington, was re-acquired from the Seattle Seahawks along with a 2026 seventh-round pick. Cleveland is sending back a 2026 sixth-round pick

The fifth-year pro had signed with Seattle during free agency on a one-year, $2.395 million contract. However, the Browns developed a need for another center after Luke Wypler suffered a broken right ankle during Saturday's preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers.

All the Browns had at that position, in reality, was starter Ethan Pocic and Zack Johnson, a first-year pro whose only previous regular-season game experience had been one game at guard for the Tennessee Titans in 2022. Another center on their roster, Brian Allen, suffered a calf injury early in training camo and was cut after being placed on injured reserve.

Harris comes back to the team that took with with the 160th pick in the 2020 draft, with eyes on eventually grooming him to be JC Tretter's replacement at center. However, on the second play of the first preseason game in Jacksonville on Aug. 12, 2022, he sustained a season-ending knee injury.

"I dislocated my kneecap, and in doing that I tore my VMO (vastus medialis oblique)," Harris told the Beacon Journal in an Aug. 11, 2023 conversation, "so my inner quad muscle. I also tore my MPFL (medial patellofemoral ligament), which is the ligament that connects your kneecap to the inside of your leg. So, yeah, it was a big boy injury. It was a big boy injury, and it was a lot."

The recovery from that injury also took a toll mentally on Harris. He acknowledged he battled with bouts of depression as he went through the initial recovery stages.

"It took me a long time to even reach out to people because I was almost embarrassed of the situation," Harris said. "I felt like I let a lot of people down, and obviously it's a weird thing to say, but when you're in that situation, it has that ability for me just because I was so excited to be in that position and I felt like I worked so hard for it. … I didn't talk to anybody for months."

Harris would come back to play in all 17 regular-season games last season, as well as the AFC wild card game, carving out a role as a lead blocker in the Browns' short-yardage packages. He also started two games at center in place of Pocic: Week 15 vs. the Chicago Bears and Week 18 at the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Inglewood, Calif., native has played in 40 career regular-season games with four starts. He also appeared in the one playoff game last season

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns bring back center Nick Harris in trade with Seahawks