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The Browns on Saturday made a handful of roster moves to get their roster down from 65 players to 53. The roster will remain this size throughout the regular season with 46 eligible to play on game days.
The following moves were made Saturday.
-- Cleveland acquired WR Sammie Coates and a 2019 seventh-round pick in a trade with the Steelers for a 2018 sixth-round pick.
-- The Browns terminated the contracts of OL John Greco and QB Brock Osweiler
-- There were 11 players waived: RB Terrence Magee, LB Deon King, WR Jordan Payton, WR Jordan Leslie, WR Rannell Hall, TE J.P. Holtz, OL Anthony Fabiano, DL Xavier Cooper, LB Kenneth Olugbode, DB Najee Murray, K Cody Parkey
Nine of the Browns’ 10-man 2017 draft class made the 53, including RB Matthew Dayes, who was the second to last pick in the entire draft. The lone member that didn’t, DB Howard Wilson, was placed on reserve/physically unable to perform (PUP) on Friday.
Twenty-eight of Cleveland’s 53 were acquired through the draft, including 20 in the past two classes. Twenty-one of the 53 were new additions to the roster at some point in 2017. Forty-two of the 53 have been added since 2016.
“We have some core guys that we expect, who are not only here now but will be here for a long time, and then adding a lot of fresh young talent to the roster in guys that are competitive and embrace the way we want to build who obviously fit our scheme,” Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown said. “Year over year we’re going to have some opportunities to put some talent on this roster both in free agency and the draft. We obviously had a trade today and we’ll be looking at every opportunity to improve the roster moving forward, but we do like we’re young and the talent is not only better, but also ascending.”
The Browns 53-man roster breaks down as follows:
Offense (25)
Quarterbacks (3): DeShone Kizer, Cody Kessler, Kevin Hogan; running backs (3): Isaiah Crowell, Duke Johnson Jr., Matthew Dayes; fullback (1): Danny Vitale; wide receivers (5): Kenny Britt, Corey Coleman, Sammie Coates, Ricardo Louis, Rashard Higgins; tight ends (3): Randall Telfer, Seth DeValve, David Njoku; offensive linemen (10): Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, JC Tretter, Kevin Zeitler, Shon Coleman, Rod Johnson, Marcus Martin, Spencer Drango, Austin Reiter, Zach Sterup
Defense (25)
Defensive linemen (10): Myles Garrett, Danny Shelton, Trevon Coley, Emmanuel Ogbah, Caleb Brantley, Tyrone Holmes, Jamie Meder, Carl Nassib, Larry Ogunjobi, Nate Orchard; linebackers (5): Jamie Collins Sr., Christian Kirksey, Joe Schobert, Dominique Alexander, James Burgess; defensive backs (10): Jamar Taylor, Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Jason McCourty, Marcus Burley, Darius Hillary, Jabrill Peppers, Derrick Kindred, Ibraheim Campbell, Calvin Pryor III, Kai Nacua
Specialists (3)
Kicker (1): Zane Gonzalez; punter (1): Britton Colquitt; long snapper (1): Charley Hughlett

Areas of note within the 53-man roster include:
-- The Browns enter the season with Kizer, a second-round pick in the 2017 draft, and two second-year signal-callers in Kessler and Hogan in a quarterback room led by Jackson and veteran quarterbacks coach David Lee.
“Our young guys were playing good and we needed to continue to grow them,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “The only way you can do that is by keeping them on your roster and giving them a chance to keep getting better behind DeShone, who we picked as a starter.”
“Wouldn't have probably predicted it would’ve ended this way but happy because all four of the guys competed,” Brown said. “Depending on when we had cut-downs, it could’ve broke in different ways. But in the end, we really felt good about the three young guys being in the room and it was a difficult decision with Brock because he brings that veteran presence and experience, but do feel good about Cody, Kevin and DeShone.”
-- Coates, a third-year receiver acquired in a trade Saturday with the Steelers, is the newest addition to Cleveland’s roster. He appeared in 14 games with five starts last season and logged 21 receptions for 435 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s another big, fast athlete,” Jackson said. “He has real-time speed, he’s made some big plays at Pittsburgh, obviously he gives us another chance to stretch the field, he’s a physical blocker at the point of attack, so I think he’s an upgrade for our team and he’s a good special teams player so we’re excited to have him.”
-- Cleveland transformed its offensive line during free agency with the additions of Tretter and Zeitler and currently boasts 10 players in a room led by veteran coach Bob Wylie. Bitonio and Johnson are both dealing with injuries.
“Hopefully we’ll get some guys back here real soon, but I think it’s an area we’ve improved,” Jackson said. “Obviously, I think our inside three is as strong as we’ve been in a while and I think our tackles are improving. When you talk about Joe Thomas, you're talking about one of the best in pro football. So we feel good about our line but again, it’s a great situation with the additions that we put on the team.”
-- The Browns parted ways with one of their longest-tenured players in Greco, who had been with the team since 2011. Greco started 56 games and filled a valuable role as a versatile interior lineman.
“John was a warrior throughout, played multiple positions and we have a tremendous respect for him as a person and as a Cleveland Browns player on the field as well,” Brown said. “So we wish him nothing but the best of luck moving forward so I’m sure we’ll see him out there on the field this fall.”
-- Following Wednesday’s release of two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Joe Haden, the Browns kept 10 defensive backs who are expected to play multiple roles in a Gregg Williams defense that demands versatility and flexibility.
“There were some tough decisions there that had to be made and we’ve made those,” Jackson said. “I feel like it’s a group that has a veteran presence in Jamar and Jason and there’s a young player in Boddy-Calhoun who I feel like has some real talent. We’re always looking to improve but I feel good about the guys we have.”
-- Gonzalez, a seventh-round pick out of Arizona State, emerged as the winner of a tightly contested kicker competition with Parkey, who served as Cleveland’s kicker for the majority of 2016.
“We could've went either way to be very honest with you because Cody has done some good things here, but Zane came in and proved that we did a great job in making the selection in drafting him,” Jackson said. “He held his own, guy obviously nailed a 53-yarder the other night (in Chicago) and he’s done a great job thus far in camp and kicks the ball out of the end zone whenever we need him to do so.”
-- The Browns hold first priority among all NFL teams on waiver claims. Last year, Cleveland claimed five players, including three who made this year’s 53-man roster, one day after rosters were trimmed to 53.
“You never quite know. Waivers and claiming a player sounds really nice but you don't have a familiarity you have versus a guy you’re going to have to get rid of on your roster, so there’s some risk involved,” Brown said. “We do a lot of diligence, our pro groups are always tremendously well-prepared and organized so it’ll be a long night and morning but hopefully we can find some young guys who can help us on our roster.”

Payton gone
Rod will be on IR soon
We kept A LOT of DB/DL

I figured that we would keep 10 each of DL and DB, along with 5 LB.

I am kind of surprised that Higgins made the roster over Hall. I suspect that we will look for one or two more WR from among the cuts.I cannot see us going into the season with 10 OL, and probably not even 9. Last year we entered the season with 8 OL.

OL as well We usually keep 9.

j/c

Bublicious:

R Johnson (IR)
Higgins
Burley/Hillary
Orchard (maybe IR)
Sterup

LOL........what a joke!

Sounds like Johnson is going on IR, but we couldn't do it till after cutdown time if we wanted the potential for him to come back during the season.

Kirksey, Collins and Schobert will be playing a LOT

Really surprised we cut Ranell Hall. I thought he was safe, for sure.

Which rookies that we drafted would u have released? In my opinion brantley I'd probably the only rookie I would have had in the bubble. And heard he really came in strong at the end if camp.

As a non-vested player before the cutdown to 53 he must be waived (injury designated) before he can get to our IR. As a waived player, we could have lost him to another team.

We will IR him as soon as we can now that he "made" the 53.

There are two IR timeframes. Six weeks for guys on IR/PUP and eight weeks for everyone else on "regular" IR.

I still think that we have one too many SS.

Johnson will free up another waiver slot.

I figured Hall &/or Leslie over Higgins. I don't remember noticing Higgins as much as those other two.

I agree. I thought one of IC or Pryor wouldn't get there.

Oo of last year's group Kessler and Higgins I would probably part ways with but I really liked Higgins coming out. Louis project we can give some more time to.

Oh no Ranell Hall how could it be
He was SUPPOSED to Be THE Next Great WR
Oh the lack of talent now at WR

We probably kept a number of SS because that position isn't locked up yet.

I think we kept more SS more due to the fact that GW likes to play his SS as lb's often so the prototypical LB while valuable wouldn't necessarily be needed in the numbers we have grown accustomed to.

Probably true. I just figured it wasn't a lock, especially since maybe they don't know how kindred will hold up throughout the season.

That makes sense. It will be interesting to see how many LBs hit the Practice Squad.

IMO OL and WR are still the most fluid positions over next couple days as they dig through the player base released by other teams. CB could be as well but listening through the pressers I think as it stands Hue is pretty comfortable.

If I'm one of the back end DL/WR/DB I don't feel safe until after this week still

Why the "(maybe IR)" next to Orchard? Did he get hurt?

He didn't play after game #1. I know he was injured for games #2 & #3...not sure about #4. But he didn't play in #4 either.

Well I'm starting to scratch my head with this FO (TALENT evaluation ).. Louis and Higgins ? Give me a break .

Agreed. I'd add OL to your list.

J/C,

Possible PS:

Holtz
McNamara
Mullaney
Schult
Leslie
Murry
Holtz
Magee
Olugbode
Hall
Payton

I don't think that we put all 4 WR on the squad, but any of the 4 are worthy imo.

Is Payton eligible?

I hope WR Jordan Leslie, WR Rannell Hall make it back onto the team. Hopefully Leslie will get resigned after they put guys on IR. I think he balled out trying to make the team.

Thanks Willie, I hadn't realized that.

I am a little miffed that Hall and Leslie were let go. I thought that they outplayed the starters.

I think there should be a few spots of the practice squad roster that should be protected from other teams.

at least 2 or 3 of the 10..

Surprised that Leslie or Hall didn't make it. The Coates situation screwed them.

"Finalize"

It is still possible that one of them might be back on the regular roster after Johnson is placed on IR. Stranger things have happened ..... though it's not super likely.

I think it's possible. As I understand it, we have to wait until the "waiver period" is over...essentially meaning that we cannot make a waiver claim for them and we have to wait until they become free agents (also meaning after every team gets a shot at them and our waiver priority means diddly for those guys we waived).

Or, the fact that they weren't drafted by the FO hurt them.

j/c



Or maybe...juuuuust maybe...the guys they decided to keep are better players and/or better fits for what they are trying to do.

You keep saying that? Why is that such a shock to you? It's been that way for decades.

I thought you watched and knew something about football?

LOL.........no peen, I don't know nearly as much about football as guys like you do. But, then again.....that doesn't mean I have to agree w/you, because after all, if we all had like minds, we would never learn.

Good, you are learning...look man, I am not ripping you, I just don't get why you are shocked?


It is what it is....a new group moves in, they keep their guys until they can replace them with thier guys.


Just the way it works since Paul Brown and George Halas.