Re-thinking 53-man Browns roster after cut down

Specialists (3)

Cody Parkey, Jamie Gillan, Charley Hughlett

There’s actually going to be a battle for the placekicking job in Cleveland, even if we don’t hear much about it. Cody Parkey should end up winning the job and he was really solid in 2020. After replacing Austin Seibert in Week 2, Parkey brought some stability to the position and was 19-of-22 on field-goal attempts.

The problem was, he missed four extra-point tries. And while he’s been good on 84.6 percent of his attempts (and 94.3 on extra points), he’s known for hitting the upright, something he even did against Jacksonville — although it did go in.

McLaughlin looked capable as well, but unless Parkey starts missing, the placekicker will probably remain the same.

As for the punter, Jamie “The Scottish Hammer” Gillan continues to hold down that job. The former rugby player is a fan favorite and needs to be better than he was in 2020, but we saw in 2019 how solid he can be.

Lastly, we have Charley Hughlett who has been with the Browns since 2015. The long-snapper is a thankless position where players are expected to be perfect or they will get insane criticism. So far, Hughlett seems to be doing that and should have no problem continuing to quietly get his job done for Cleveland.