Cleveland Browns Roster Cuts: The Final 53-Man Roster

UPDATE: On Sunday, the Browns claimed two players on waivers, meaning they also had to release two players from the initial 53-man roster. The Browns’ practice squad has also been named.

The following players were cut (or traded) by the Cleveland Browns, trimming their roster to the league-required 53 players. Make sure you react to all of the cuts in the comments section below! The final 53-man roster is also at the bottom of this post.

Offensive Players Cut

• QB Garrett Gilbert - There is no need for three quarterbacks on the main roster, with the new rule that four players can be protected on the practice squad. Expect Gilbert to land there.
• QB Kevin Davidson
• RB Dontrell Hilliard - It appears that D’Ernest Johnson won the third running back job on the main roster. Reports say the Browns would like to keep Hilliard on the practice squad.
• RB Benny LeMay
• FB Johnny Stanton
• WR Damion Ratley - The former 6th round pick saw some action last year, but an injury hampered him early in camp with a new coaching staff. Veteran Rashard Higgins won the No. 3 receiving job over him.
• WR Taywan Taylor
• WR Ja’Marcus Bradley
• OL Willie Wright
• OT Brady Aiello - Because Aiello was just signed on Friday, one would think that he has a decent chance to make the practice squad now.
• OT Alex Taylor (injured)
• OG Michael Dunn
• C Jon Toth

Defensive Players Cut

• DE Chad Thomas - A former 3rd round pick, Thomas is the biggest name cut of the day for the Browns. He was seeing reps early in camp when Myles Garrett was resting, but then Porter Gustin moved up the depth chart in front of Thomas.
• DT Daniel Ekuale
• DE Robert McCray
• LB Willie Harvey
• LB Solomon Ajayi
• LB Montrel Meander
• CB Donovan Olumba - One of the biggest names of this year’s camp was Olumba, who took advantage of numerous injuries in the secondary to see first-team reps.
• CB Robert Jackson
• CB A.J. Green - Despite being paid a high signing bonus as an undrafted free agent, Green will hit the waiver wire. That doesn’t mean the signing bonus was useless — it still allowed the team to have him in camp, and if no one claims him, they’ll bring him back to the practice squad, perhaps as one of their four protected players.
• S Jovante Moffate
• S Elijah Benton

Other Notes

• Among the bubble players who made the roster: RB D’Ernest Johnson, WR Rashard Higgins, TE Stephen Carlson, TE Pharaoh Brown, and OL Evan Brown.
• This might be my best year yet predicting the initial 53-man roster. I correctly predicted 51/53 players (96.2%). The players I missed on were OL Michael Dunn and CB Donovan Olumba. Instead, OL Evan Brown and TE Pharaoh Brown made the roster. Funny — it was the “Browns” that messed up my perfect score!

Final 53-Man Roster (as of 9/5/20)

The following players do not count toward the 53-man roster:

• Injured Reserve: DE George Obinna, DE Curtis Weaver, DE Trevon Young, S Grant Delpit
• Reserve/Opt-Out: OT Drake Dorbeck, OG Drew Forbes, OG Colby Gossett, OG Malcolm Pridgeon, DT Andrew Billings