5 Cleveland Browns players on the roster bubble heading into OTAs

5 Cleveland Browns players who will be fighting for their jobs in training camp

The Cleveland Browns are officially a good football team, which means each and every roster spot is invaluable.

At the end of the roster, there will be some heated battles all throughout the offseason, and there will be some difficult cuts that must be made.

Here are five players whose jobs are on the line, and who are in danger of being released.

5. RB D’Ernest Johnson

When the Browns selected UCLA’s Demetric Felton in the sixth round, the writing was on the wall for Johnson. The team’s third-string runner last season carried the ball 33 times for 166 yards. He gained 95 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 and sealed Cleveland’s victory over the Indianapolis Colts seven days later.

While not nearly the same type of player, Johnson closely resembles Alvin Kamara in visual running styles, and is a quality NFL running back. He likely deserves a larger role than what he would get with the Browns, which is fewer than the 33 carries he had in 2020; that number was only that “high” because Nick Chubb missed four games to injury.

Felton is younger, cheaper, more athletic, and much more versatile. He returns kicks and has been practicing as a wide receiver during OTA’s; he could potentially take over for Jarvis Landry as the slot receiver in 2021 based on his electric route-running ability.

Johnson also returns kicks, and is likely a better between-the-tackles runner than Felton. He gets the yardage that is schemed, but little more. That limitation is what will most likely leave Johnson on the outside looking in, as it’s difficult to see the team keeping four running backs and a fullback, plus four tight ends. That just isn’t how the game of football is played nowadays.