Super Bowl 2021: Browns connections in the Super Bowl, and Cleveland’s roster makeup

Every year, the Cleveland Browns typically have at least one former player represented in the Super Bowl. Outlined below are players, coaches, or front office personnel who were formerly members of the Browns on either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The parenthesis represent the time span they were with Cleveland.

At the end of the post, we will post a quick year-by-year look at the Browns’ roster make up following the end of the season.

Former Browns on the Kansas City Chiefs

• TE Ricky Seals-Jones (2019) - Seals-Jones was a nice little weapon for Baker Mayfield at times in 2019, but the team didn’t really show interest in re-signing him this year. He only played in 2 games for the Chiefs, and in the postseason game against Cleveland, where he drew a penalty.
• OL Austin Reiter (2016-2017) - When Cameron Erving went down in 2016 for the Browns, Reiter has a chance to shine at center, and he showed some nice upside in his first game. Unfortunately, he also tore his ACL, ending his season and leaving him only with reserve duty in 2017. He is now the Chiefs’ starting center.
• OL Andrew Wylie (2017) - After being on the Browns’ practice squad for three months in 2017, the Chiefs signed him the following season, and he has basically been a starter for them the past three years now. He’ll be at right guard.
• OT Mitchell Schwartz (2012-2015) - The former Browns right tackle got to play in the Super Bowl last year, but he’s on injured reserve this year.
• Former Browns RB Elijah McGuire (2019) and OL Bryan Witzmann (2019) are on the Chiefs’ practice squad.

Former Browns on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Head Coach Bruce Arians (2001-2003) - Arians was the Browns’ offensive coordinator under former head coach Butch Davis. Over the years, some fans were calling for a reunion between Arians and the Browns, but it never materialized.
• Defensive Coordinator Todd Bowles (2001-2004) - Bowles was the Browns’ secondary/nickel package coach for three years during the Butch Davis era. He was retained in 2004 as the secondary coach, but that was his final year with the club.
• Running Backs Coach Todd McNair (2001-2003) - Run, William, Run! McNair was the Browns’ running backs coach under Arians in Cleveland. After a long hiatus from football, McNair returned to coaching in 2019 with the Buccaneers.
• Specialists Coach Chris Boniol (1999) - Here is an obscure one: Boniol was the kicker who competed for a roster spot with Phil Dawson in 1999. Dawson won the job, and the rest is history.
• Former Browns QB Drew Stanton (2018-2019), OL Earl Watford (2018), and K Greg Joseph (2018) are on the Buccaneers’ practice squad.

Browns’ Year-by-Year Roster Breakdown

You can see the Browns’ roster composition in this PDF file. The longest tenured players on the Browns are OG Joel Bitonio and LS Charley Hughlett, both from the 2014 season.