Since the Browns selected him with the No. 85 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Zak Zinter's pro career has been mostly stuck in neutral.
He was a celebrated pick at the time, which is saying something after he helped anchor a national title run for the Michigan Wolverines as their right guard. Zinter’s recovery from a broken leg may have helped the Browns land him in the latter stages of the third round.
It was easy to see the long-term vision, with ironman guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller creeping up in age at the time. By Year 3 — or this 2026 season — Zinter profiled as the type of player who would enter the starting lineup and never leave.
Fast forward to the present, with Cleveland preparing to enter Week 3 of spring OTAs, it’s become painfully clear that whatever long-term plan GM Andrew Berry and the front office had for Zinter has drastically changed. The 25-year-old feels a lot closer to the 53-man roster bubble than he does to cracking the starting lineup right now.
Zak Zinter faces an uphill battle this summer to carve out a role
We’re about to reach a sink-or-swim moment for Zinter, whose training camp reps will no longer be masked by long-standing Browns veterans. Cleveland’s vacant right guard spot should be earmarked for him this season. Instead, he could face stiff competition just to stick around as a top reserve on either side of the line.
The first sign of trouble was Cleveland’s decision to re-sign Teven Jenkins in free agency. The Browns essentially guaranteed Jenkins’ entire $4 million contract, per Spotrac, so he’s not going anywhere. With Teller slowed by a calf injury late last season, former head coach Kevin Stefanski favored Jenkins over Zinter, who worked more at left guard as Bitonio’s backup.
Jenkins returning to the mix could suggest that Berry and Stefanski were aligned on Zinter, who played almost his entire fourth-year career at Michigan on the right side. Cleveland also made an aggressive trade up into the third round in the 2026 draft to land Florida’s Austin Barber, a college tackle who new Browns head coach Todd Monken feels could move inside to guard.
"When you talk about the offensive linemen, you're just trying to get some guys that you think can play tackle but also have position flex," Monken said of Barber. "I think that's the best way to go about it. (We) see (Barber) as a tackle to start, obviously has some flex. We think he could move inside."
Zinter only played 46 offensive snaps in 2025, per Pro Football Focus, despite Cleveland being decimated by injuries up front. How he manages to carve out a key role this year is anyone’s guess, especially with a pair of well-paid vets joining the group in Elgton Jenkins and Zion Johnson.
At this point, Zinter will have to bide his time until training camp kicks off in July. For a young offensive lineman in his position, there’s not much that can be accomplished during OTAs outside of lining up correctly and avoiding false starts. He has continued to work as a reserve at left guard this spring, so he could be facing an uphill battle to gain any positive momentum this summer.
Teven Jenkins could enter camp as the front-runner to start at right guard, with Zinter still buried on the left side. That would have been unfathomable back in April of 2024 when he was drafted, but it’s the harsh reality for one of Cleveland’s most forgotten early-round draft picks of the last three years.
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