Browns 53-man roster before NFL free agency: Not many spots available

NFL free agency and the NFL draft could be quiet for simple roster reasons

With NFL free agency kicking off with legal tampering on Monday, it is a good time to look at what the Cleveland Browns roster looks like at this time. We will list players as “likely locks” with the reality that a few are not for sure locks but if they do not another player at their position would be needed.

You may quibble with a player here or there on the first list but the exercise is more about understanding the roster’s current composition.

Browns 53-man roster – Likely Locks

• QB: Deshaun Watson, Dorian Thompson Robinson – 2
• RB: Nick Chubb, Jerome Ford, Pierre Strong – 3
• WR: Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore, Cedric Tillman, David Bell – 5
• TE: David Njoku, Jordan Akins – 2
• OL: Jedrick Wills, Joel Bitonio, Ethan Pocic, Wyatt Teller, Jack Conklin, Dawand Jones, James Hudson III, Luke Wypler – 8

Offense total: 20

• DE: Myles Garrett, Ogbo Okoronkwo, Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire – 4
• DT: Dalvin Tomlinson, Siaki Ika – 2
• LB: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Mohamoud Diabate – 2
• CB: Denzel Ward, Martin Emerson Jr., Greg Newsome II, Cameron Mitchell – 4
• S: Juan Thornhill, Grant Delpit, D’Anthony Bell, Ronnie Hickman – 4

Defense total: 16

• Special Teams: Charley Hughlett, Dustin Hopkins, Punter – 3

Total: 39

2024 NFL Draft Picks

Cleveland currently has five selections in the upcoming NFL draft. Here is a mock draft of what those five could end up looking like.

Total: 5

18 Other Browns Players Under Contract for 2024

None have any guaranteed money on their contracts but LB Tony Fields II, CB Kahlef Hailassie, WR Michael Woods and OL Drew Forbes are among the group that will likely be on the team’s 90-man roster for sure.

9 Roster Spots Available

When looking at NFL free agency, at least the part that matters the most, teams are primarily bringing in players that are certain to be on their opening roster, barring injury. With 39 players as virtual locks and five draft picks, the Browns have nine roster spots seemingly available for free agents, the 18 players also under contract and the rest of the 90-man roster when it is assembled.

A look at the current roster gives us some idea of what positions those nine spots will go to:

• Veteran Backup QB (A lot of Joe Flacco noise last week)
• At least one tight end (unless Akins is released then two but the numbers stay the same)
• A defensive end (Za’Darius Smith could return)
• Multiple defensive tackles (Shelby Harris and Maurice Hurst) could return
• Multiple linebackers (Anthony Walker Jr. and/or Sione Takitaki could return)
• A cornerback
• A safety (Rodney McLeod returning makes sense)

If we count two defensive tackles and two linebackers, the above fills those nine slots. Six of them could be filled by returning players on one-year, veteran deals.