What felt like one final audition in a Cleveland Browns uniform for Cedric Tillman turned into some surprising breaking news on Thursday morning.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter announced the Browns’ decision to release Tillman ahead of their final preseason game, a predictable but still brutal resolution to one of Cleveland’s top training camp stories.
Tillman, as Zac Jackson of The Athletic tweeted Thursday, “wasn’t even on the bubble.” The Browns’ first selection in the 2023 NFL Draft, No. 74 overall in the third round, had fallen behind depth wideouts like Isaiah Bond and Tylan Wallace in camp, and his lack of experience on special teams made moving on feel like a foregone conclusion.
Parting ways makes sense for both parties. Assuming he clears waivers, Tillman, who’s battled injuries throughout camp and didn’t play in either preseason game, can now weigh his options as a free agent as teams across the NFL trim their rosters down to the regular season limit of 53.
The Browns recoup a little more than $3.6 million in cash and immediate salary cap savings, as Tillman had received a proven performance escalator in his contract based on playing time this offseason that was non-guaranteed.
But while this move will have little to no impact on the Browns’ plans for 2026, it’s yet another loss for general manager Andrew Berry’s floundering 2023 draft class. That year’s draft produced a slew of franchise pillars like Will Anderson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and several others who have already signed lucrative, market-setting contract extensions this year.
With Tillman on the way out, the Browns’ last hope from that class is edge rusher Isaiah McGuire, who’s entering a contract year and will only enter this season as a starter due to Alex Wright’s unfortunate Achilles injury in camp.
The Cleveland Browns continue to grapple with a 2023 draft class that’s failed to produce
Cleveland’s starting group, especially on defense, should be solid enough across the board to give fans hope this season. The one outlier is painfully obvious, though.
The Browns’ starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is partly to blame for the team’s current depth crisis. Cleveland entered the 2023 draft without a first-round pick due to its blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans the year prior.
Houston wound up flipping Cleveland’s pick, which was No. 12 overall, in a trade up the board for Anderson. The Browns wound up moving their second-round selection, No. 42 overall, to the Jets in a package for wide receiver Elijah Moore, and then doubled down with Tillman in Round 3.
Berry used another third-round pick on defensive tackle Siaki Ika, who’s no longer in the league. Offensive tackle Dawand Jones and McGuire followed in the fourth round, and Cleveland’s full draft class was rounded out by quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Round 5), defensive back Cameron Mitchell (Round 5), and center Luke Wypler (Round 6).
Only McGuire, Jones, and Wypler remain on the Browns’ roster. McGuire is the only lock to make the team entering the preseason finale.
McGuire should have every opportunity to make a name for himself in 2026, as he’s entering a contract year and is expected to start opposite Jared Verse as the team’s left-side edge rusher. But the class as a whole only magnifies the importance of Berry’s last two drafts.
Cleveland appears to have landed multiple franchise cornerstones in that group of 17 players, and they’re facing the tall task of carrying the hope of a starving franchise on their young shoulders.
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