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UPDATE: The Browns have named their initial 53-man roster, click here to see it.
It is time for my final 53-man roster projection for the Cleveland Browns. General Manager Andrew Berry will have to trim the roster from 76 players to 53 players by 4:00 PM ET on Saturday, September 5. This edition is based on the weeks of training camp reports and my general instincts — we do not have preseason games to go off of this year.
Browns 53-Man Roster Projection
| Pos | Final Roster | Practice Squad (Cut) | Players Cut / IR / Opt-Out |
| QB (2) |
Baker Mayfield Case Keenum |
Garrett Gilbert | Kevin Davidson |
| RB (3) |
Nick Chubb Kareem Hunt D'Ernest Johnson |
Dontrell Hilliard | Benny LeMay |
| FB (1) |
Andy Janovich | Johnny Stanton | |
| WR (6) |
Odell Beckham Jr. Jarvis Landry Rashard Higgins Donovan Peoples-Jones JoJo Natson KhaDarel Hodge |
Damion Ratley Ja'Marcus Bradley |
D.J. Montgomery Taywan Taylor J'Mon Moore |
| TE (4) |
Austin Hooper David Njoku Harrison Bryant Stephen Carlson |
Pharaoh Brown | |
| OL (9) |
Jedrick Wills Jr. Joel Bitonio JC Tretter Wyatt Teller Jack Conklin Chris Hubbard Nick Harris Kendall Lamm Michael Dunn |
Evan Brown Alex Taylor Brady Aiello |
Willie Wright Jovahn Fair Jon Toth Drew Forbes (Opt-Out) Colby Gossett (Opt-Out) Malcolm Pridgeon (Opt-Out) Drake Dorbeck (Opt-Out) |
| DL (8) |
Myles Garrett Larry Ogunjobi Sheldon Richardson Olivier Vernon Adrian Clayborn Jordan Elliott Porter Gustin Eli Ankou |
Chad Thomas Daniel Ekuale |
Robert McCray Ricky Walker George Obiynna (IR) Curtis Weaver (IR) Trevon Young (IR) Andrew Billings (Opt-Out) |
| LB (6) |
Mack Wilson B.J. Goodson Sione Takitaki Jacob Phillips Malcolm Smith Tae Davis |
Willie Harvey Solomon Ajayi |
Montrel Meander |
| S (4) |
Karl Joseph Sheldrick Redwine Andrew Sendejo Ronnie Harrison |
Jovante Moffatt Elijah Benton |
Grant Delpit (IR) J.T. Hassell |
| CB (7) |
Denzel Ward Greedy Williams Kevin Johnson Terrance Mitchell M.J. Stewart Jr. Tavierre Thomas Donovan Olumba |
A.J. Green | Robert Jackson Donnie Lewis Jr. |
| ST (3) |
Austin Seibert Jamie Gillan Charley Hughlett |
The list above contains 53 players that I kept. Because practice squads are so big this year (16 players), I have created a specific column for those players too. You can read here and here for more information on the expanded practice squads.
General Roster Projection Notes
Since the first edition of my list, I removed the following 5 players from my 53-man roster projection:
- WR Damion Ratley
- DE Chad Thomas
- CB A.J. Green
- S Grant Delpit
- S J.T. Hassell
Since the first edition of my list, I added the following 5 players to my 53-man roster projection:
- WR JoJo Natson
- LB Malcolm Smith
- CB Donovan Olumba
- CB M.J. Stewart Jr.
- S Ronnie Harrison
I will explain each of my updated roster decisions in the positional bullet points below.
- At wide receiver, I think Natson will make the roster as the Browns’ primary return may now. Mike Priefer is as good as they come for a special teams coordinator, and the way he talks about Natson makes it sound like he is so excited to have a player like him back there. I think his pleas to keep Natson will pay off on a roster spot. Cutting Damion Ratley is a tough one, but it’s either him or Rashard Higgins, and I can’t let my guy go.
- I thought really hard about putting Mack Wilson on injured reserve to begin the season, but then I remembered that he’d have to make the regular season roster first to begin with. That means I had to cut one extra player, which was Chad Thomas. The Browns could still stash him on the practice squad for depth purposes. Malcolm Smith joins the roster for depth while Wilson is still recovering from his knee injury.
- The position with the biggest change is the secondary, with three additions and three subtractions. Grant Delpit going on IR led to the team just trading for Ronnie Harrison, so he will definitely make the roster now. Donovan Olumba has seen good reps in camp, which means that offseason favorite A.J. Green tries to slip to the practice squad instead. I also have M.J. Stewart Jr. making the roster as the nickelback for the first couple of weeks while Kevin Johnson rehabs from his lacerated liver.
- Note: I reserve the right to tweak my 53-man projection by midnight on Friday. Final roster cuts are due Saturday by 4 PM ET.
Reminder on Rosters for 2020
- This season, teams can have 55-man rosters on gameday, by elevating two members of the practice squad temporarily for emergencies.
- Practice squad players can also come up to replace a player on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
- Gameday active rosters have increased from 46 to 48 players, although one of those extra players must be an offensive lineman.
What Do You Think?
Feel free to share your roster projections here, or some changes you would make to mine.