Cut day is here for the Cleveland Browns. Like the rest of the NFL, the Browns have to trim their massive preseason roster down to just 53 players. The Browns have made plenty of cuts already, but still have plenty of work ahead. Here’s a quick rundown of five players who couldn’t make their ultimate case in the preseason for a spot on the Cleveland roster.
Top 5 Likely Final Cuts from Browns Roster
Quinshon Judkins, RB
Judkins’s situation is an unusual one, to say the least. The second-round pick has been sidelined by his ongoing legal issues. But the Browns haven’t signed Judkins to a contract, and he didn’t play in any of the team’s preseason games. Given the NFL’s stance on domestic violence, the thought here is that there’s no reason Cleveland would carry Judkins on the roster pending some final resolution of the legal situation.
Dylan Sampson, Jerome Ford, and Pierre Strong Jr. will end up being the backs who likely make the Browns roster.
Diontae Johnson, WR
Johnson is a talented veteran with 424 receptions and 28 touchdowns already in his NFL career. But Johnson played for three different teams in 2024, and in the preseason, he caught just two passes for 19 yards out of his six targets. Johnson might still have some gas left in the tank, but he hasn’t shown much of it for the Browns, and it’s not hard to imagine the team going for a lower-cost, younger pick to fill out the roster at his spot.
Rookie Gage Lardavain probably earned the last spot with a tremendous preseason. He tied for the team high in receptions and receiving yards in preseason action.
Blake Whiteheart, TE
Whiteheart made the squad last season and even earned a couple of starts. He caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. He caught a pair of passes in preseason action, but he’s probably made expendable by the high ceiling of Harold Fannin Jr. and veteran David Njoku. He might end up as a practice squad guy or could hook on with another team that’s just thinner at the tight end position. Either seems plausible at this point.
Whiteheart hasn’t done a bad job, but the Browns will probably decide to either not carry a third tight end or to pick up a more elite athlete to fill the roster spot.
Shelby Harris, DT
A 10-year veteran, Harris started part-time for the Browns in 2023 and then throughout the 2024 season. He has 51 tackles for loss and 27.5 sacks in his NFL career to date. But Harris had just one tackle in preseason, and Cleveland might decide to save some money by going in a younger direction in its defensive tackle rotation. If Harris seemed to still have enough steam to star, he’d stay. But since he doesn’t, so don’t be surprised if he goes.
Tony Brown, CB
Brown has played sparingly in the secondary but has gotten most of his NFL snaps on special teams. Brown played significantly in the secondary with the Packers in his rookie season back in 2018. In six games last season, he played only on special teams. But the same situation as above is present again here: why not go with a cheaper and easier alternative than an aging veteran who plays a limited role? Brown probably goes.
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