Browns begin roster purge by releasing 4 players

The Cleveland Browns began the process of reducing the roster on Thursday by releasing four players.

The club released safety J.T. Hassell, cornerback Donnie Lewis Jr., wide receiver J’Mon Moore and defensive tackle Ricky Walker.

Today’s moves leave the roster at 75 players as the Browns work their way toward Saturday’s 4 p.m. deadline to have the roster at a maximum of 53 players.

Hassell spent the first 11 weeks of last season on Cleveland’s practice squad before being activated to the roster. He appeared in four games and made seven tackles.

Lewis was the team’s seventh-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Tulane. He spent the majority of his rookie season on the practice squad.

The Browns signed Moore to the practice squad near the end of November last season. He was originally a fourth-round selection by the Green Bay Packers in the 2018 NFL Draft and spent both 2018 and 2019 in training camp with the Packers.

Walker signed with the Browns in August. He was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2019 but was waived in the final roster cuts. He played for the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL earlier this year.