Cleveland Browns have too many draft picks

Should the Cleveland Browns be cutting players for nine draft picks?

So let’s add it up. We are looking at nine draft picks and a pool of 30 longshots to fill five roster vacancies created by off-season moves, plus any other players we might care to replace.

The Browns also expect Grant Delpit and Greedy Williams to return from injury.

So who should the Browns cut in order to accommodate nine rookie Browns in addition to the six free agents that the team has already signed?

To help understand those decisions, the chart below lays out 53 roster spaces in Column 1, and Column 2 enumerates the positions that are most likely to be filled. The position is listed in Column 3 and the player is listed in Colum 4.  Column 5 is the most important, because it lists the players who would have to be cut in order to squeeze into the 53-player roster.

Three roster spaces are listed for quarterbacks, allowing Cleveland to add a third quarterback, though they did not do this last season. On that basis, you might argue that only two roster spaces should be allotted for quarterbacks.

However, this was a great error, in this writer’s opinion, because Garrett Gilbert is a legitimate quarterback and should have been protected. Of course, he was not needed at all, and Baker Mayfield is certainly immortal and will never be injured, but after surviving the 2015 season, this Browns fan still believes in three quarterbacks on the roster.

It’s less clear whether Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski agree, so downsizing is an option here.  That could appear as an additional offensive lineman or a wide receiver.

The roster also contains four tight ends and four running backs including a fullback because it is the Cleveland Browns, and it is a run-first offense.  There’s also an extra defensive back instead of a linebacker because they are playing a 4-2-5 base. It makes a lot of fans unhappy, but this is 2021 and that is what they are going to play.

If there are any players on the cut list that you believe are worthy of being on the Browns roster — not making All-Pro, but just the active roster — then either some player has to come off the roster or the number of draft picks has to be reduced from the current level of nine.

Perhaps this fan over-values the talent level of some of these players, but there are players on the cut list that I would rather not cut. Plus as I have said many times this off-season, I would be very comfortable with having a few empty roster spots that could be filled by undrafted free agents and minimum-salary veteran surprise players in summer camp.

Those players will definitely be found by the personnel department and identified by the coaching staff, so it is the wrong move to cut them in favor of low-value Day 3 draft picks.

Note also that any wide receiver you might want to draft would be at risk of being sent home at the end of summer unless a trade is worked out. A rookie wideout would be basically a health insurance policy for KhaDarel Hodge who missed some time with a troublesome hamstring.

However, Hodge, is a special teams gunner and also clocks a 4.3, and has been a very good receiver in a small data sample. There’s no room for an additional wide receiver in a run-first, two-tight-end offense with a  fullback. So, for all the amateur scouts that have identified some speedy kid with glue fingers from a small college that could be had in Round 6, it is unfortunate, but that guy will be dead on arrival unless a Browns receiver winds up on IR in pre-season.

If you are okay with waiving everyone on the cut list and offering them to the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals, then it is okay to draft all nine picks. If not, then we ought to talk about moving up and drafting fewer players with higher quality.

The Browns still need help at defensive tackle, and the defensive backfield. Some solid players are needed, but they may not need to necessarily populate an entire defense with nine players.

This fan believes that the Browns would have to cut some players who belong on an NFL roster in order to get down to the 53-player limit, as the roster is presently constituted. Currently, this list shows slot receiver Ryan Switzer, offensive linemen Drew Forbes and Michael Dunn, linebacker Mack Wilson, and safety Sheldrick Redwine also left off the team in favor of new draft picks.

Plus, there is zero allowance shown for training camp surprise players and undrafted free agent players.

1. Roster   2. Player   3. Position     4. Name                                       5. Cut List (outside looking in)
Space        Count
1                    1              QB1               Baker Mayfield
2                     2             QB2               Case Keenum
3                                    QB3                                                                         Kyle Lauletta

4                    3             WR1                Odell Beckham Jr
5                    4             WR2               Jarvis Landry
6                    5             WR3               Rashard Higgins
7                    6             WR4               Donovan Peoples-Jones
8                    7             WR5               KhaDarel Hodge                       Ryan Switzer, JaMarcus Bradley, JoJo                                                                                                                       Natson, Alexander Hollins
9                    8              TE1                 Austin Hooper
10                 9              TE2                 David Njoku
11               10             TE3                 Harrison Bryant
12               11             TE4                 Stephen Carlson                        Jordan Franks

13              12              RB1                Nick Chubb
14              13              RB2                Kareem Hunt
15              14              RB3                D’Ernest Johnson
16              15              FB1                 Andy Janovich                             Johnny Stanton

17              16              C1                   JC Tretter
18              17              C2                   Nick Harris
19              18              G1                   Joel Bitonio
20              19              G2                   Wyatt Teller
21               20             G3                   Chris Hubbard
22               21             T1                   Jedrick Wills
23               22             T2                   Jack Conklin
24               23             T3                                                                          Drew Forbes, Michael Dunn, Alex                                                                                                                            Taylor, Blake Hance

25               24           K                     Cody Parkey
26               25           P                     Jamie Gillan
27               26           LS                   Charley Hughlett

28               27           DE1                Myles Garrett
29               28           DE2                Jadeveon Clowney
30               29           DE3               Takk McKinley
31               30           DE4               Porter Gustin
32                               DE5                                                                          Joe Jackson, Cameron Malveaux,                                                                                                                              Curtis Weaver

33               31           DT1              Andrew Billings
34               32           DT2              Jordan Elliot
35               33           DT3              Malik Jackson
36                               DT4                                                                           Sheldon Day

37              34           LB1              Sione Takitaki
38              35           LB2              Anthony Walker
39              36           LB3              Jacob Phillips
40              37           LB4              Malcolm Smith
41                             LB5                                                                             Mack Wilson, Curtis Weaver, Elijah                                                                                                                           Lee, Montrel Meander
42                             LB6

43             38            S1                John Johnson
44             39            S2                Ronnie Harrison
45             40            S3                Grant Delpit
46                              S4                                                                              Sheldrick Redwine, Jovante Moffatt
47                              S5

48             41           CB1              Denzel Ward
49             42           CB2              Troy Hill
50             43           CB3              Greedy Williams
51             44           CB4              MJ Stewart
52                             CB5                                                                              Robert Jackson, A.J. Green
53                             CB6

.                45 Draft Round 1(26)
.                46 Draft Round 2(59)
.                47 Draft Round 3(39
.                48 Draft Round 3(91)
.                49 Draft Round 4
.                50 Draft Round 4
.                51 Draft Round 5
.                52 Draft Round 6
.                53 Draft Round 7