Zak Zinter entered training camp this summer firmly on the roster bubble, which is never a good sign for a former third-round draft pick. Zinter had to earn his way back onto the Cleveland Browns' roster, and he did just that as the team’s backup left guard.
Zinter may not have a future in Cleveland, though. He’s played a total of 280 offensive snaps over his two-plus seasons, and the team’s new regime just selected three offensive linemen in the 2026 draft.
If the Browns are ready to move on from Zinter early, old friend Mike Vrabel and the New England Patriots should be the team general manager Andrew Berry calls first.
Injuries continue to mount across the NFL, with the Patriots losing rock-solid right guard Mike Onwenu to a season-ending leg injury in Week 2. Vrabel is down to 36-year-old veteran Greg Van Roten and backup center Ben Brown as his two best options for Onwenu’s spot.
Zinter, a North Andover, Massachusetts, native who worked with Vrabel in Cleveland during the 2024 season, could finally find a real path to playing time if the Patriots are looking to make a move ahead of the NFL's early-November trade deadline.
Cleveland suddenly has enough offensive line depth to consider selling Zak Zinter
Vrabel was hired by the Browns during the 2024 offseason as a coaching and personnel consultant, but he did the bulk of his work that season with Cleveland’s offensive line group. That was the same year Zinter arrived in Berea as the No. 85 overall pick in the draft.
Zinter was coming off a brutal leg injury that kept him from playing in Michigan’s 2023 national championship game, but he was fully cleared to participate by rookie minicamp. He wound up getting two starts at right guard as a rookie while also repping at left tackle and left guard as the Browns tried to find the right combination during an injury-plagued 2024 season.
Zinter has worked mostly at left guard since, stuck behind future Browns Ring of Honor recipient Joel Bitonio, who retired this offseason. He’s now the top backup to 2026 free agent signee Zion Johnson and actually played one snap in the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars after Johnson left the game briefly with team trainers.
Zinter had a strong camp this summer and was excellent in the preseason. He posted a clean sheet against the Patriots in the preseason finale on Aug. 27, per Pro Football Focus, earning an 86.3 grade in pass protection.
Mike Vrabel’s history with Zak Zinter makes the Patriots an obvious trade partner
Van Roten didn’t exactly impress on Sunday against the Steelers when pressed into action. He replaced Onwenu at right guard and played 40 snaps, but he was the team’s worst-graded player per PFF, and Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal included him among his “three down” during his weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
The Patriots chose Van Roten for veteran depth and he’ll likely start their Week 3 game at Jacksonville. But he could be another clunker or two away from being replaced.
Most important for the Browns is New England’s draft capital, as the Patriots spent picks to acquire A.J. Brown from the Eagles back on June 1. They still hold eight total selections, including three in the sixth round.
The Browns would likely jump at the chance to acquire one of those sixth-round selections, especially for a player who had a chance to be waived back in August. The move would make sense for the Patriots, as they would still hold seven total selections in the 2027 draft and would bring in a young player who’s under team control through 2027.
It feels weird typing this, but the Browns have enough young depth along the offensive line to justify selling at the deadline this year. Vrabel could be in such a dire situation by then that his ties to Cleveland — and Zinter's roots to the Foxboro area — become an obvious starting point.
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