Browns: Pre-Training Camp 53-man Roster Projection

I spar with my own model as to who will make the 2025 Cleveland Browns roster

Welcome to my first 53-man roster projection! I’m going to go into a great deal of detail here for the Browns, but the other 31 roster projections I’ll share will be brief and high-level.

You’re welcome to share my graphics wherever you please, just so long as you tag my social account or direct them back here! You can even share the graphic below and mark it up with any disagreements you might have! More info on my process can be found here.

Quarterback

We'll start with the most widely discussed position group. The Browns attacked their quarterback rebuild in a unique way by making modest investments in four new players. In practice, NFL teams in the last decade are split evenly between keeping 2 & 3 quarterbacks on their active roster during the season. Interestingly, the 2024 Cleveland Browns were only team in the last six years to keep more than 3 QBs through final cuts, although Tyler Huntley was released one day after the deadline to trim rosters to 53.

Before I go further, I want to reiterate that that I am predicting whether a player will be on *any* NFL roster during cutdowns. I'm not predicting that any individual player will be traded or placed on PUP/injured reserve. In the case of these five players, I think it would be unusual for any of them to be released outright. While we don't yet have clarity on this, I suspect that Deshaun Watson will miss the entirety of 2025 and will not count toward the 53-man roster at any point. If by some miracle he avoids any injury list, his $46m guaranteed salary in 2025 (most of which has already been converted to a signing bonus), make him uncuttable. Of the two quarterbacks taken in the April draft, Gabriel is highly unlikely to be cut. We've only seen one day 1 or day 2 rookie draft pick waived before final cuts in the last 12 seasons. Players taken at Sanders' draft slot also tend to have a very strong chance at making their first initial roster (~95%), but with four QBs on the roster, I think he's the most likely player to be waived before final cutdowns. While it is technically possible that either rookie could be traded in the preseason, we hardly ever see that. Only four players since 2013 have been traded before their first regular season.

My feeling is that one of the two veteran QBs will be traded prior to the final cuts. Kenny Pickett, who was acquired in a March trade, is unlikely to be a legitimate candidate to be cut. Without even considering the trade capital sent away for Pickett (pick 164 in this April's draft, a player who historically has a 92% chance to make the initial roster as a rookie, along with Dorian Thompson-Robinson), he has a $2.6m guaranteed salary in 2025. Some of that could be relieved if Pickett were waived and signed to a new team for the entire season, but the result would still produce a dead cap hit of at least $1.5m. This is a threshold for dead cap that we rarely see teams take on for players who fail to make the initial roster. Joe Flacco would have an even bigger dead cap burden, earning a $1.75m signing bonus when he joined the Browns in free agency. Still, a potential trade partner for Flacco might be willing to fork over a little extra draft capital given that the Browns have already prepaid a portion of his earnings for the year. A trade for either player is probably a late round future pick swap, with Flacco having a narrowly higher trade value than Pickett.

It’s hard to dismiss any outcome for how the Browns will approach this room in final cuts. With expectations low for this season, maybe they’ll actually be fine carrying four QBs. I’ll close by saying the simplest outcome is probably that Gabriel or Sanders suffers an injury serious enough to be placed on IR, giving the team an extra roster slot without needing to part with either of the veteran QBs who are on one-year deals.

Receiver

Jeudy & Tillman are the only solid locks here. 2024 5th round pick Jamari Thrash had three catches in his rookie season, which would probably put him pretty close to the bubble on most teams, but the Browns lack of depth gives him a great chance to make the roster and contribute in year two. Free agent signee DeAndre Carter is primarily a return man and has just two seasons with 200+ routes since entering the NFL in 2015. I’m unsure he’ll be a serious part of the WR rotation. Dionte Johnson is a true wild card. On a league-minimum contract with no guarantees or supposed interest from other clubs, he could easily be cut, just as he was last year by teams with more to play for. David Bell is only narrowly into the bubble category (35% to 65%) and that doesn’t quite feel right to me. Bell was waived following final cuts, last year so my model penalizes him significantly for being off of his rookie contract, even though he was immediately added to the practice squad and signed back to the active roster by week 2. Bell then missed the rest of 2024 with a hip injury, so we have little clarity about what his role might have been had he played the full season. I would probably have him just a hair above Mike Woods and closer to 50/50. I think there are probably 6 spots somewhere for this group, but I could see them adding a player here.

Offensive Line

Probably the clearest position group on the roster. All five anticipated starters (Jones-Bitonio-Pocic-Teller-Conklin) are solid locks along with the two freshly signed backups (Lucas & Jenkins). Zinter is a day 2 pick entering year 2, so he is likely to be safe as well. Baring injury, I’d expect those 8 guys to be active on week one as NFL teams dress exactly 8 offensive linemen virtually every game. I think the most likely scenario is that Barton, Wypler, and Cohen are all fighting for one more spot. Javion Cohen was a 2024 UDFA who actually made it though final cuts last season, though he was demoted to the practice squad in week 6 without recording an offensive snap. Wypler is a 2023 6th round pick who missed all of last season with an ankle injury. He played a couple of fullback snaps in 2023, so perhaps he has utility in jumbo sets (similar to Nick Harris). Barton logged a pair of spot starts at RT last year for the Cardinals, which were the first starts of his career. Unless the team considers Tevin Jenkins, who started his career as a tackle in Chicago, a viable depth player on the outside, I think I would give a slight edge to Barton. If Jenkins does factor into the tackle depth, it helps Wypler, who I think is the only player besides Pocic on the roster who has played meaningful time at center.

Running Back

Short of new details being revealed about Quinshon Judkins’ recent domestic violence arrest, he and Sampson should be locks to make the roster. Jerome Ford’s playing time in his first three seasons earned him a pay raise via the Proven Performance Escalator and he wound up negotiating his salary back down in exchange for more guarantees. That guarantee ($1.75m in base salary) should keep him on the roster. Pierre Strong is a player that I think my model struggles to gauge since he arrived through a player-for-player trade while still on his rookie contract and has not been waived since, despite minimal on-field contribution. In my mind, Strong is on the bubble.

Troy Hairston is the first pure fullback that the Browns have signed since the 2022 preseason. Hairston was a 2022 UDFA who operated as the primary FB for the Texans right away that season. Hairston missed all of 2023 with an injury and spend nearly all of 2024 on the Texans practice squad. I’m thinking he’s not guaranteed a roster spot just because he’s the team’s only fullback.

Tight End

The Browns came through final cuts last year with just two tight ends, but it sounds like they’re getting back to more of Stefanski’s earlier work in Cleveland, which heavily leveraged tight ends. Njoku and Fannin are the locks and I think it’ll be a battle between Whiteheart and Bates for a third tight end who can be leaned on as more of a run blocker. Sal Canella was recently brought in after another strong season of spring football. Canella has played more of a power slot role in the UFL, so it’s hard to say how he might fit for this team’s needs right now.

Edge

Early in the offseason Myles Garrett inked a fresh extension that guaranteed him nearly $90m at signing. His roster spot is secure. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka signed a FA deal with $4.2m guaranteed at signing. A couple bucks less than Garrett, but he’s locked in nontheless. 2023 4th rounder Isaiah McGuire rounds out the locks after a full season as a solid contributor in 2024. 2022 3rd rounder Alex Wright suffered a torn tricep four games into last season. Wright should make the roster in his contract year and is helped by the fact that the Browns parted ways with Ogbonnia Okoronkwo in late June. Cameron Thomas was taken nine picks after Wright, but is now with his third team. Thomas is likely competing for a spot with Julian Okwara, who signed a 2025 FA deal with $200k in salary guarantees. If that salary can be offset by practice squad earnings, Okwara might find himself starting 2025 as one of the designated practice squad veterans. Adin Huntington is one of the Browns top UDFA pickups from 2025 ($20k signing bonus + $160k guaranteed salary). He’s one to watch as a spoiler. I think there are three locks and then two more spots after that to be earned by the remaining five players.

Interior Defensive Line

After dumping Dalvin Tomlinson as a cap casualty in the lead up to free agency, the Browns made Maliek Collins the cornerstone of their 2025 free agent class. His spot is safe along with top five pick Mason Graham. Last year’s 2nd round pick, Michael Hall, ended last season with a knee injury that required offseason surgery. If he’s healthy, he’ll make the first 53. Shelby Harris is now on the back half of a two-year deal he signed in 2024. He’s due to earn $4.5m with no guarantees and no money already earned. With more invested in Collins and the two recent draft picks, Harris could be seen as expendable at this price, although I think he’s probably safe. Sam Kamara, still looking to survive final cuts for the first time at age 28, and Jowon Briggs, a 2024 7th round pick who spent most of his rookie year on the practice squad, each closed out the last season with significant playing time. I think one of those two probably breaks through to the end of the roster.

Linebacker

With the benefit of hindsight, the Browns aggressive moves to shore up their linebacker unit were all pointing to uncertainty regarding the future of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Jordan Hicks earned his $1m roster bonus in March, functionally prepaying him for his services in 2025. Devin Bush was re-signed a few days later with a $1.8m signing bonus and a fully guaranteed league minimum salary. Less than a week after that, Jerome Baker agreed to terms on a contract with partial guarantees. With 2023 UDFA Mohamoud Diabate coming off a year where he filled in to make 11 starts, the group appeared to already be in a solid place. Obviously, we now know that Carson Schwesinger will be the future at top of this position for Cleveland. 2024 6th round pick Nathaniel Watson was a fixture on special teams last year, and while he did make the initial roster, he was waived and sent to the practice squad for two games last season. 2024 UDFA Winston Reid on the other hand failed to make the initial roster last season, but was quickly signed to active roster after the season opener. Reid was active on special teams and in addition to rotating in on defense, he also played handful of snaps at fullback. He was tendered as an exclusive rights free agent, so he returns at the league minimum with no guarantees. Easton Mascarenas-Arnold rounds out the linebackers as a 2025 UDFA. His $100k guaranteed salary + $10k signing bonus suggest he is going to be facing an uphill climb in a packed unit.

I think the Browns likely keep at least 6 linebackers through final cuts and I wouldn’t be shocked if they went with 7. This feels like their deepest position entering training camp.

Safety

Grant Delpit’s guaranteed $10m option bonus that vested last year means he was always going to have a safe spot on the 2025 roster. 2023 UDFA Ronnie Hickman projects as a roster lock by standing atop the free safety depth chart entering camp. Behind those two are a pair of veterans signed in the aftermath of the draft. Jenkins & Kazee both took similar contracts at a league minimum salary with a high percentage guaranteed plus a $167.5k signing bonus. This is a contract that could plausibly be axed, but it is more likely that both will make the team. Chris Edmonds was a preferred UDFA last spring ($10k signing bonus + $225k guaranteed salary) and spent virtually the full 2024 season on the practice squad. Donovan McMillon signed for a nearly identical amount this spring ($10k signing bonus + $200k guaranteed salary) and received more total guarantees than anyone else in the Browns 2025 UDFA class. Those two are probably on the outside looking in right now.

Cornerback

The three starters here (Ward, Newsome, Emerson) are locked in. Newsome’s fully guaranteed fifth-year option is set to pay him the 19th most 2025 cash of any corner in football ($13.4m), which exceeds his presumed market value. Maybe there is a trade partner who is open to taking on Newsome at a lower number (meaning the Browns would have to eat some money), but Newsome would then surely make the roster of his new team.

After the starters there is an interesting group of players competing for another three or four spots. My model is deferential to the fact that Cameron Mitchell played a lot last season (34% of snaps over 17 games) and has not yet been waived on his draft contract. I think he’s probably more in the “Strong” group than a near lock. Another draft pick, Myles Harden (7th round pick in 2024), spent most of 2024 on IR. Tony Brown was released by the Browns in final cuts last year and subsequently added to practice squad. Brown was elevated three times before being signed to the active roster. He contributed exclusively on special teams before being sent to IR after week 8. Nik Needham had been a strong contributor for the Dolphins from 2019 to 2022 until suffering a torn achilles. He spent all of 2024 on Miami’s practice squad and then signed with the Browns at the league minimum with no guarantees in April. 2024 UDFA Chigozie Anusiem received a whopping $50k signing bonus + $300k guaranteed salary to join the Commanders last spring. He failed to make the 53-man roster and was on the Commanders practice squad until the Browns signed him in week 12. Anusiem was a healthy scratch for each game until the season finale, where he played 8 defensive snaps. 2025 UDFA LaMareon James joined the Browns this spring with solid guarantees ($20k signing bonus + $175k guaranteed salary), so he could factor in as well.

Specialists

At kicker, Dustin Hopkins still has some light guarantees & recently earned cash, though it probably wouldn’t quite be enough to protect him from a rough preseason. Andre Szmyt initially joined the Browns practice squad late last season after the Falcons snagged Riley Patterson. Szmyt didn’t finish the year on the Browns practice squad, but did sign a futures contract with Cleveland at the end of the season. Szmyt was let go on June 4th and brought back again on June 26th. It doesn’t feel like there is a serious level of commitment to Szmyt, so Hopkins just has to avoid self-destruction to be the opening day kicker in my opinion.

At long snapper, 2025 UDFA signee Brent Matiscik ($15k signing bonus + $35k guaranteed salary) is the brother of Jaguars long snapper Ross Matiscik. Rex Sunahara took over the role last year from long-time Brown Charley Hughlett. This one is likely more of a coin flip than in Sunahara’s favor given that there is no serious money involved.