Cleveland Browns roster not as deep as we thought
It felt as though the Cleveland Browns roster was deep enough that they would lose several players who they waived but that proved not to be the case
The roster of the Cleveland Browns was supposed to be packed full of talent, but the rest of the NFL chose to ignore most of the Browns available from waivers this week. Many analysts and fans, including this one, expected several Browns to be picked up from waivers.
That is, the expectation was that the Browns had more good players than roster spots, and so upwards of 60 players should make an NFL opening day roster, either for the Browns or as a waiver wire pickup for another team.
The opposite occurred, as only 47 players from summer camp made it to the Browns 53 player roster. Among the players cut or waived, only three were chosen for active rosters elsewhere in the league — four, if you count Duke Johnson, who was traded earlier in the summer to Houston for a draft pick.
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Overall, only 51 players from the 90 player summer roster made it to an NFL opening somewhere in the league. That comes as a surprise.
Among those are four players who wound up on other teams.
Quarterback David Blough was worth an exchange of seventh-round picks to allow the Browns to move up in the seventh round. of the 2020 draft. So Detroit at least believed that he is good enough to justify a roster spot.
Tight end Seth DeValve was picked up from the Browns waiver wire by a new team (Jacksonville Jaguars).
Punter Britton Colquitt was cut rather than waived because of his veteran status. He has signed with the Minnesota Vikings. DPD does not know yet if his salary was discounted from the $2.7 million that the Browns had contracted for.
Two players who were cut made practice squad rosters for other teams (Trevon Coley with the Ravens and Brian Price with the Colts).
light. Related Story. Should Browns Fans Lower Expectations?
Your humble correspondent was among the group of writers and sportscasters who told you that the Browns were very deep this year and that, for example, the wideouts looked great with players like Jaelen Strong, Derrick Willies, and Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi.
However, no NFL team wanted any of these players for their 53 player roster. Willies found his way back to the Browns’ practice squad, but the other two players are still available to any team that wants them.
On defense, many analysts believed that there was a tough numbers game at linebacker, where the Browns could only afford to carry six players based on the expectation that they will use two-linebacker formations extensively this year. They had already given guaranteed money to six players (actually seven counting the $450,000 bonus charged to the 2019 cap for Ray-Ray Armstrong).
Yet Armstrong and Willie Harvey, though thought to be very deserving of being on an NFL roster, both cleared waivers. Harvey was signed to the Browns practice squad. Meanwhile, the Browns signed underachieving ex-Bengal linebacker Malik Jefferson rather than going with Harvey or Armstrong as the seventh linebacker.
Ditto for defensive linemen Carl Davis and Brian Price; cornerback Lenzy Pipkins; offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann; and kicker Greg Joseph.
They may get picked up later in the season, as rosters thin out due to injuries and attrition, but they were not thought of highly enough to make an NFL team’s opening day 53-player roster.
The Browns filled their 53 player roster with six players taken from other teams in the last few days. Three came by trade, at a total cost of four draft picks — guard Wyatt Teller, guard Justin McCray, and wide receiver Taywan Taylor. Three more were claimed from the waiver wire — linebacker Malik Jefferson, tight end Ricky Seals-Jones and receiver KhaDarel Hodge.
Hence, John Dorsey and the front office apparently agreed that there was a problem with depth and they did something about it. Draft picks are not free, especially when you are drafting players like Genard Avery and Mack Wilson in the late rounds. If there was a problem — and there was — it may have been largely corrected. Later they will have to ask why they did not get better results from undrafted free agents this year.
The actions of John Dorsey and the Browns show that they are going for it this year. Dorsey traded four future draft choices to shore up immediate deficiencies in depth. If the original roster was not as talented at the bottom end as we thought, they have tried to correct that issue immediately and at significant cost.
Moreover, though the bottom of the roster is the most arduous task for the general manager, everybody knows that the heavy lifting on the field is done by the big dawgs at the top of the roster. Baker Mayfield, Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb, OBJ, Denzel Ward, Joe Schobert, and company are the players who are most vital to the team performance right now. So it’s not like anyone needs to panic over second and third-string players not performing up to expectations.
Next. Players who are key to a Week 1 victory. dark
What it does mean, however, it that the Browns need to do better with undrafted free agents and recycled veterans in the future. Next year they would rather not have to spend four future draft picks to fill the opening day roster.