3 UFL players the Browns should consider

There are still holes on the Browns roster that need depth

The Cleveland Browns are just over a month from the beginning of training camp. Their roster is completely full. But that hasn’t stopped GM Andrew Berry from tweaking it each week. It is common for him to drop a guy with a new player already signed.

It just so happens that an entire league just completed its season with eight teams’ worth of available players. The United Football League (UFL) concluded its season last Saturday, June 14, with their league championship game in which the DC Defenders defeated the Michigan Panthers 58-34.

RELATED: GIVE ONE SIMPLE REASON FOR OPTIMISM IN 2025

UFL players participate under one-year deals. Once the season has concluded, each athlete is available to be signed. The season is positioned to conclude before NFL training camps begin, which gives every player in the UFL the opportunity to be signed to a training camp and advance their playing careers.

Last year, 87 UFL players signed with NFL teams. During the 2024 NFL season, 21 UFL players were either listed on the main roster, practice squad, or IR.

Despite a full roster of 90 players signed to the current Browns’ roster, there are needs to be filled. The UFL has numerous players who could help this team and provide some quality depth needed at crucial positions.

Here are three players at need positions for Cleveland to consider.

---

Photo by Alex Slitz/UFL/Getty Images

TE Sal Cannella – Arlington Renegades

6’-4”, 230 pounds

Age: 28

Pro experience: USFL – 10 games played with 9 starts; XFL – 11 games played with 8 starts; UFL – 20 games played with 16 starts

The Browns appear good at tight end with Pro Bowler David Njoku as the starter and college football’s leading receiver, Harold Fannin, being drafted this year. But TE3 remains an issue. Blake Whiteheart is set to battle it out with Brenden Bates for this position, but what if there is a better option?

Whiteheart played in 11 contests for the Browns in 2024 with just six catches for 51 yards. Bates came to Cleveland late in the season after bouncing around the practice squad of two other clubs and had zero stats. Neither player has shown much.

Cannella is a good blocker and would be an excellent red zone target. He has very good YAC numbers and is a tough kid to bring down.

After a decent career at Auburn, he went undrafted in 2020 and then spent time with the Generals of The Spring League and Miami Dolphins training camp. In 2022, he was drafted #2 by the New Orleans Breakers of the USFL and had 34 receptions for 368 yards with two scores and a 10.8 yards per reception average. At season’s end, he was named to the All-USFL Team.

The Green Bay Packers signed him after the USFL season concluded, and he was released on the final cutdown. He then found a home with the Arlington Renegades, where he played in 2023 (XFL), 2024, and 2025, the final two in the UFL. Between these spring seasons, he signed or worked out for the Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Cannella’s cumulative stats all three seasons with the Renegades are: 139 receptions, 1,386 yards, seven TDs, 10.0 yards per reception average, and an average of 179 YAC per season. This past year, he was ranked #6 among all pass catchers in the UFL plus named to the All-UFL Team.

Cannella has the experience to come into Browns training camp and win that third tight end spot.

---

Photo by Lee Coleman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

OT Yasir Durant – DC Defenders

6’-7”, 330 pounds

Age: 27

Pro experience: NFL – 19 games played with 2 starts; UFL – 22 games played with 22 starts

The Browns realistically have only one offensive tackle on the current roster with extensive experience listed at the backup role, in Cornelius Lucas, who will turn 34 years old this summer. Both of their starters are injury-prone, which is a point that has been discussed ad nauseam but still rings true. The roster has five other tackles under contract with little to no experience in live games.

RELATED: BROWNS MAKE 2 MOVES ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE

That would change if the Browns signed Durant.

Durant began his college career at Arizona Western, a community college. He then transferred to Missouri. He had a draft grade of being taken in Rounds 3-4 but was not selected in the 2020 NFL draft. He then signed with the Kansas City Chiefs and, at the end of training camp, made their final roster. That season, Durant played in 11 games with one star as a rookie.

After one season, the Chiefs traded him to the New England Patriots where he was cut on the final cutdown. From there, the New Orleans Saints signed him to their practice squad. Later, he signed with the Denver Broncos but was released during training camp.

From there, he signed with the DC Defenders and played every game at tackle. He signed again to play for DC this year, and at season’s end, he was named to the All-UFL team.

He has played both tackle and guard, so he has versatility. Durant’s frame is beefy, wide, and long. He can use his length for extended feel and contact with rushers. His hand placement is a bit weak and labors out of his stance and into skip pulls. At times, he will struggle to open his hips and recover around the top of the rush.

---

Photo by Scott Rovak/UFL/Getty Images

C Mike Panasiuk – St. Louis Battlehawks

6’-4”, 300 pounds

Age: 27

Pro experience: XFL – 10 games played with 10 starts; UFL – 22 games played with 22 starts

Panasiuk made the transition from defensive tackle to center, so he has a nasty disposition. At Michigan State, he was named to the Big-10 All-Freshman Team. In his junior year, he was voted Second Team All-Big 10 and First Team All-Big 10 as a senior.

Despite a good college campaign, he went undrafted in 2020. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders but was cut on the final cutdown. He was then signed to the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers. In 2021, he was waived with an injury designation.

The Battlehawks of the XFL signed him, and he played all 10 games. Despite going 7-3-0, St. Louis missed the playoffs. Panasiuk was named All-XFL that season.

Panasiuk inked a one-year $795,000 deal with the Indianapolis Colts for 2024, but was released on the final cutdown. St. Louis was added to the UFL’s lineup in 2024, to which he re-signed and played all 10 regular-season games plus one playoff loss. He was named the league’s center on the All-UFL Team. Panasiuk again played for the Battlehawks in 2025 with 11 starts. After the season, he was again named All-UFL, making it three consecutive years he had been selected to a league’s all-star distinction.

The Browns have a very good center in Ethan Pocic, but there is a huge drop-off if he were to become injured. Luke Wypler was drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft, but suffered an ankle injury during Cleveland’s first preseason game last year, which required surgery. While the injury has completely healed and Wypler has finished his rehab, he has not established that he can take control of the position, and is unproven at this point.

Although other players could fill in at center if needed, Wypler and Pocic are the only true snappers on the roster. Centers are the quarterbacks of the offensive line. It is not simply a job of hiking the ball to begin each play and then getting in the way of a defender. It is an important position and takes years to get acclimated to the job. For the Browns to have just two guys on the active roster to handle this is a huge problem.

Wypler hasn’t even played one season yet. Think about it. Panasiuk has plenty of live-action experience and would provide Pocic with the skill and understanding of the position if needed, and would become a reliable backup.