Every NFL team was required to make roster cuts and submit its initial 53-man roster by yesterday afternoon, and the Cleveland Browns were no exception. Of course, many of our roster spots were already filled and the names like Myles Garrett and Joe Flacco were to be expected, but there were also a lot of surprises on our first official roster of the season.
First and foremost, I have to celebrate the departure of Dustin Hopkins. I will always remember his 2023 season fondly, but I don’t know how he even made it through 2024 without getting cut – and he just kept missing all preseason, too. Andre Szmyt is our new kicker and I don’t know anything about him other than he won the Lou Groza Award in 2018 and won the Rams game for us this past Saturday. That’s all I need to have the utmost confidence in him until he gives me a reason to lose it.
As of the time of writing this, there were only two running backs on the Browns’ 53-man roster – and as I was typing, we claimed Raheim Sanders off of waivers. Of course, Quinshon Judkins is largely expected to sign his contract and return to the field at some point this season, but it was still shocking to see only Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson’s names on the initial 53. What made it especially surprising is the strong preseason that Ahmani Marshall had – I was fully expecting the undrafted free agent to make the team as our RB3 until Judkins returned from his impending suspension. Kevin Stefanski confirmed in yesterday’s press conference that “there will be more than two running backs on this team” – and Raheim Sanders just became our third. Another surprise was that we opted for four tight ends (Njoku, Fannin, Whiteheart, and Bates) – but now that we have Raheim Sanders, it seems inevitable that one will get cut. He did have a strong camp, but it just doesn’t make sense to carry four tight ends and two running backs, so expect to see Bates released in the near future.
Adin Huntington wasn’t a surprise when his name showed up on the 53, but he was one this preseason – and his Saturday performance against the Rams is what led to Stefanski confirming his roster spot immediately after the game and I have to say that I am so excited for this kid. It’s already an extremely crowded defensive line room (everyone else had pretty much locked in their roster spot already), but if he can carve out a spot for himself, he could be a game wrecker. He’s 281 pounds and ran a 4.64 40-yard dash at his Pro Day. He was used on special teams, as a run blocking fullback and as a defensive lineman – and he made an impact in all three phases. Keep an eye out for Adin Huntington throughout the season – because the UDFA rookie out of Tulane has the potential to fly up the depth chart and earn a consistent role in Jim Schwartz’s defense.
Another undrafted rookie who turned heads and earned a spot this preseason was linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold. Many eyes were on 33rd overall pick Carson Schwesinger and how he has adapted to the “green dot” leadership role on the defense, but when Mascarenas-Arnold came in the game, he was everywhere (six tackles on Saturday!). He’s currently the 5th LB on our depth chart (behind Schwesinger/Bush/Diabate/Baker), but he had a very impressive camp – it will be interesting to see what happens in our linebacker room when Nathaniel Watson and Winston Reid return from injured reserve.
Most of the WR room was to be expected – Jeudy/Tillman/Thrash were always staying, and once we signed Bond to a fully guaranteed deal, there was no chance that he wasn’t going to make the team. Throughout the offseason, I had been pretty confident that we would keep Diontae Johnson, but he was so inconsistent these past few weeks that I’m happy we cut him. The biggest shock to me was that we cut undrafted rookie Kaden Davis; however, he had been extremely successful in camp and in preseason action, but he didn’t get the nod – we opted for Gage Larvadain (yet another UDFA) and DeAndre Carter to round out the room instead. Gage also had an impressive camp, of course, but I had assumed we would keep either Larvadain or Carter as our return specialist and reward Kaden’s performance with a roster spot regardless. Instead, it appears as if Carter will stay in for kick returns and Gage will be our WR5.
As for our defensive backs, there really weren’t many surprises. Undrafted Donovan McMillon made the team as our fifth safety behind Delpit, Hickman, Jenkins, and Kazee – the only other player who was really competing for that spot was veteran Nik Needham, who didn’t impress much in camp. As for corners, Dom Jones (also undrafted) and Myles Harden were the two trying out who made the team after relatively strong summers with us and Martin Emerson Jr.’s season-ending injury. However, the Browns made another waiver claim at the time of writing this article for former Jets cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse. The 25-year-old was a 6th round pick in 2023 and apparently was very impressive this offseason (obviously impressive enough to warrant signing him) – so it’s very likely that we cut one of the undrafted rookies in our DB room to make space for Bernard-Converse.
Looking at the roster as a whole, I am very optimistic about our season. Of course, our schedule is some sort of cruel and unusual punishment – but I still think we’re going to surprise some people. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Browns will be better than you think.
Photo via The Athletic
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