https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6571574/2025/08/23/browns-53-man-roster-projection-2025/?source=user_shared_article
Browns 53-man projection: Four quarterbacks make initial roster

Browns 53-man projection: Four quarterbacks make initial roster

The preseason is over. The first wave of the quarterback competition is also over, but there’s much to be settled across the depth chart.

The Cleveland Browns have had at least three different starting quarterbacks in a season 11 times since returning to the league in 1999. It feels like the season ahead will make it 12 — and the Browns may keep four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster — but we don’t know that for sure.

Ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline to go from a 90-man offseason roster to the regular-season size of 53, we offer the following projections with a fair level of confidence.

The Browns have some sure things. They have complicated situations in their offensive skill groups and in their linebacker room. There’s not a lot of proven depth anywhere, but there were a handful of undrafted rookies who impressed in training camp and the preseason.

Who stays? Who only stays if the team can’t find a better external option? Who might go but only temporarily?

For this exercise, we’re not projecting any exact external additions and focusing on the initial 53-man roster. When the waiver wire opens on Wednesday, Cleveland will be second in line.

The Browns probably have five or six players who are truly on the bubble and will have to sweat other transactions or availability situations to ensure full employment by the end of next week. However, with some injury issues involving players who seemed set in certain roles and many teams around the league looking for reinforcements at wide receiver, cornerback and offensive tackle, much is left to be determined.

This is how we view the roster in the wake of the preseason finale.

Quarterback

How many will make the roster? Almost certainly four. It’s strange, yes, but everything about this situation has been. It’s likely to be different in October, but the team has long been prepared to keep four on the active roster headed to September.

My best guesses: Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders

Breakdown: Flacco is the starter until he’s not. Pickett has a hamstring injury and hasn’t been a full practice participant for a month. The rookies are going to play at some point — yes, probably both of them. However, based on the team’s 2023 failed experiment of keeping rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson as the primary backup in September (plus the general uncertainty behind Flacco), look for the Browns to keep four for a while unless Pickett has to start the season on injured reserve.

Eventually, some sort of trade option or injury situation will present itself. Flacco and Gabriel are certainly safe, while Pickett and Sanders each come with at least a shred of uncertainty.

Running back

How many will make the roster? Probably three. Quinshon Judkins remains unsigned and away from the team as the league continues to investigate domestic violence allegations from July for which Judkins won’t be charged.

My best guesses: Jerome Ford, Dylan Sampson, Pierre Strong Jr. (injured)

Breakdown: My early guess has Strong squarely on the bubble and the team likely seeking a bigger back via waiver or trade. Undrafted rookie Ahmani Marshall figures to land on the practice squad, and Ford and Sampson will likely start the season as the primary runners.

Strong will make it if the Browns still view him as a core special teams player — and if he’s healthy. He left the preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams to be evaluated for a concussion.

It’s possible that a league announcement of a potential suspension for Judkins could come at roster cuts. If he doesn’t get suspended, the Browns would likely move toward signing him and probably seek a temporary roster exemption, so we won’t put Judkins on any projection of the initial 53.

Wide receiver

How many will make the roster? Probably five, but anywhere from four to six could make the initial 53 ahead of the standard roster gymnastics that take place at this time of year.

My best guesses: Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, Jamari Thrash, Isaiah Bond, Gage Larvadain

Breakdown: Jeudy and Tillman are the starters. Bond is the speedy new guy who was signed to a fully guaranteed deal a few days after it was announced that he wouldn’t be charged following sexual assault allegations. Thrash’s second NFL training camp was better than his first, and he’s in line for snaps at slot receiver.

I believe Larvadain, an undrafted rookie, earned his spot with a strong camp. DeAndre Carter is almost certainly the Browns’ lead return man, but I project him to be cut as a vested veteran and then brought back once Cleveland sorts out some other roster issues. The team will probably pick from a group that includes Larvadain, Carter and Kaden Davis, and judge them versus outside options and Diontae Johnson, who did not have a strong summer.

David Bell has been on the non-football injury list and won’t make any roster projections. His status or standing with the team is unknown.

Tight end

How many will make the roster? Probably three, but there’s a chance the Browns only start with two and build out the room from there via the practice squad and/or waiver wire.

My best guesses: David Njoku, Harold Fannin Jr.

Breakdown: Njoku is the lead guy entering the final year of his current contract, but Fannin is coming off an outstanding first training camp and will have a role. Blake Whiteheart suffered a knee injury in the preseason finale, and his status is unknown. Brenden Bates, who’s mostly a blocker, would be next in line. He finished last season on the practice squad.

Offensive line

How many will make the roster? Either nine or 10.

My best guesses: Dawand Jones, Joel Bitonio, Ethan Pocic (injured), Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin, Cornelius Lucas (injured), Teven Jenkins, Luke Wypler, Zak Zinter, Jackson Barton

Breakdown: The Browns have their five starters and clear top backups at each position, but things are complicated. Lucas, the top backup tackle, missed the last week of the preseason with an ankle injury. Pocic, the longtime starting center, left the preseason finale with a knee injury and will get an MRI.

Jenkins is making the team because it believes in his talent and because he can play both guard and tackle. Even semi-decent tackle depth is hard to find, which is why I have Barton making the roster. Barton has been the team’s No. 2 right tackle for almost the entire offseason program.

If Pocic has to miss time, Wypler would start, and either Zinter would become the backup center or the team would have to find one off the waiver wire. Second-year guard Javion Cohen would be next up among the team’s current players if there’s an opening for another interior spot.

Defensive line

How many will make the roster?Potentially as many as 11 because of the depth that’s been built and because defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz understandably carries a lot of influence in the building.

My best guesses: Myles Garrett, Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire, Mason Graham, Maliek Collins, Mike Hall Jr. (injured), Shelby Harris, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Cameron Thomas, Adin Huntington, Sam Kamara

Breakdown: The Browns have a clear No. 1 in Garrett and a clear top five with Wright, McGuire and starting defensive tackles Collins and Graham. The rest is unsettled.

Hall missed all of training camp while recovering from a knee injury he suffered in January. He could be activated on Tuesday, or he could start the season on the physically unable to perform list.

The Browns traded defensive tackle Jowon Briggs to the New York Jets last week, which creates a spot for a defensive tackle. Huntington has made the team as an undrafted rookie, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski announced Saturday. Hall, obviously, will get a roster spot and be part of the rotation when healthy, but the team has provided no update on his status. That leaves the end of the group to Kamara or an additional defensive end.

Linebacker

How many will make the roster?Anywhere from four to six. The Browns will likely keep multiple linebackers on the practice squad for purposes of development and game day call-ups for special teams duty.

My best guesses: Carson Schwesinger, Devin Bush, Jerome Baker, Mohamoud Diabate (injured), Winston Reid (injured).

Breakdown: Diabate was a starter through the spring and early part of camp before his undisclosed injury. Reid missed the final week of the preseason with a back injury. Schwesinger had a strong summer and will play almost all the snaps. Based on the lack of options right now, Bush and Baker will have to play all the time, too.

External help will be coming unless Diabate and Reid can get back soon.

Defensive back

How many will make the roster? Either 10 or 11, depending on health and special teams play.

My best guesses: Denzel Ward, Greg Newsome II, Cameron Mitchell, Myles Harden, Tony Brown II, Grant Delpit, Ronnie Hickman, Rayshawn Jenkins, Dom Jones, Damontae Kazee

Breakdown: Newsome didn’t play in the preseason while protecting an early-camp shoulder injury, and Ward also has a shoulder injury. The team says Ward should be considered day to day. Mitchell is the likely starter at slot cornerback, though Harden will also push for that role.

Cornerback depth is a problem, and the drop-off from the starters to the next players is steep. Dom Jones, a rangy undrafted rookie cornerback, made a late push at a roster spot and started in the preseason finale. Brown probably makes it, given his experience and special teams ability.

It could come down to a group of Kazee, Dom Jones and cornerback Chigozie Anusiem, who got some run with the starters earlier this month before missing time due to injury. It’s possible that the Browns won’t be able to keep an extra safety if they keep four quarterbacks or have to roster an extra offensive lineman.

Specialists

How many will make the roster? Three, plus potentially Carter as the return specialist.

My best guesses: Punter Corey Bojorquez is a lock and had a great summer. Rex Sunahara won the long-snapping competition. And it’s impossible to predict what might happen at kicker, but right now we have to lean toward Andre Szmyt over Dustin Hopkins, though the team must explore all options externally.

Breakdown: There just can’t be any organizational confidence in Hopkins right now, so the Browns probably have to move on. He missed a PAT in Saturday’s preseason finale. About $1.25 million of Hopkins’ 2025 salary is guaranteed, but that can’t cloud the team’s thinking.

Szmyt has never kicked in an NFL game. The Browns first brought him on their practice squad in December, then released him and signed him back in June.

It will be interesting to see if Bond can eventually help in the return game, and it’s too early to know how special teams roster spots will be divided until we see how Cleveland handles its linebacker and cornerback groups.

Counting them up

Offense: 24

Defense: 26

Special teams: 3

The true bubble probably is: Strong, Whiteheart, Larvadain, Carter, Barton, Kamara, Reid, Kazee, Dom Jones and Anusiem.