3 Ravens the Cleveland Browns should claim at roster cutdown

1. Tony Poljan could be Cleveland Browns TE4 or FB

Their TE6, by the way,  is a guy named Tony Poljan, who is  a younger version of Johnny Stanton.  He began his collegiate career at Central Michigan in the MAC Conference, but at 6-foot-7 and 265-pounds they started to think he might be a good tight end and started using him there.

By his junior year, that became his full-time position. He graduated in three years rather than four and was able to transfer to from Central Michigan to Virginia in the ACC, and starred at the major college level. Thus, he actually played tight end at the major college level, whereas Stanton did not.  Poljan actually has a highlight reel from college.

Okay, the ACC is not to be compared to the SEC, but it’s still Power Five Conference ball. Thus, he has thrown the ball, run the ball and caught the ball in college. It might not be too far-fetched to think he might be usable as a fullback (or H-Back) in addition to tight end.

Perhaps Poljan should be ranked higher than Mason or Oliver. In any case, he is buried in the depth chart for the Ravens.

The Browns are auditioning their own tight end prospects, including Miller Forristall, Nakia Griffin-Stewart, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, and Marcus Santos-Silva. Forristall saw some action for the Browns last season after prepping at Alabama, where he had 23 catches for 253 yards in his senior year. He was not drafted.

Griffin-Stewart played in college for Rutgers and the Pitt Panthers. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 draft and was waived by the Vikings during final roster cuts, the briefly picked up for the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad, then the New York Giants’ practice squad, and then was waived at the end of the 2021 preseason by the Giants. The Chiefs picked him up and he was on the active roster for two games late last season.

Mitchell-Paden played one year college ball at Florida-Atlantic after transferring from Notre Dame College (not the University of Notre Dame, the place with the Golden Dome, but little Notre Dame College in Cleveland). He had 12 catches for 90 yards for Florida-Atlantic.

Santos-Silva is a power forward from Texas Tech. We’re not making this up. Of course, basketball players have transitioned to tight end before. It worked out okay for Tony Gonzalez. He’s 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds, so maybe he can grab footballs like rebounds.

No offense to the Browns hopefuls, but they don’t seem to match up to their counterparts from Baltimore. If the Browns want to populate their roster with tight ends and a possible fullback, they may need to scavenge from Baltimore. They are far ahead of the Browns.

Cleveland’s current backups at tight end plus Johnny Stanton will probably clear waivers and can be stored on the practice squad if the Browns believe they can be developed.

The Bengals were able to operate a three wide receiver offense last season with just three wide receivers because no one got injured. Perhaps the Browns can operate a two-tight end offense with just two tight ends and perhaps David Njoku and Harrison Bryant will stay healthy all season long. However, if that sounds like a naive plan, and it probably is, the Browns should seek some help by claiming some true prospects from Baltimore.

Cleveland should also keep an eye on the offensive line situation in Baltimore. They may have a rare excess of offensive tackles if Ronnie Stanley comes back strong because they also signed Morgan Moses as a free agent; drafted Daniel Faalele (all 6-foot-9 and 379 pounds of him), and they still have Patrick Mekari.

James Ja’Wuan is a former first round pick, trying to come back from a torn Achilles. The Browns are about four-deep in guards and center, but tackle might be a different story. It’s not possible to predict who might be available yet, but let’s keep an eye on the Baltimore O-Line situation this summer, also.