Cleveland Browns Roster 2013: Latest Cuts, Depth Charts and Analysis

It's Week 4 of the preseason, which means it's the hardest period of time for many in the NFL—cut week. Teams must reduce their rosters to 75 players by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday and down to their 53-man, regular-season rosters by 6 p.m. ET on Saturday.

As such, the Cleveland Browns have some difficult decisions to make.

Here, we'll take a look at every player the Browns release, the depth charts that the cuts leave in their wake and who lands on the practice squad. 

53-Man Roster Cuts

The Browns have reduced their roster to 53 players after a round of cuts on Friday night and another on Saturday. Here are those players who have been released by the Browns:

• OL Braxton Cave
• WR Mike Edwards
• TE Dan Gronkowski
• DB Abdul Kanneh
• RB Miguel Maysonet
• DB Kent Richardson
• P/K Colton Schmidt
• OL Aaron Adams
• DB Akeem Auguste
• K Brandon Bogotay
• LB Justin Cole
• RB Jamaine Cook
• DL Hall Davis
• WR Tori Gurley
• LB James-Michael Johnson
• WR David Nelson
• WR Naaman Roosevelt
• DL Brian Sanford
• DB Jamoris Slaughter
• LB Justin Staples
• K Shayne Graham

According to a Sunday afternoon press release and confirmed by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the Browns have also parted ways with the following players:

• RB Brandon Jackson
• LB L.J. Fort
• OL Caylin Hauptmann
• OL Jarrod Shaw
• FB Brad Smelley
• TE Kellen Davis

Among the surprises are the Browns' willingness to part with more running backs despite their thinness at the position, though their plans became more clear after the announcement of the signings of two more backs off of waivers.

The fact that with both Brandon Bogotay and Shayne Graham gone, the Browns presently do not have a kicker on the roster. Clearly, this is something they'll pick up among the free agents who are rapidly becoming available.

Linebacker James-Michael Johnson's release is a bit startling considering his strong preseason, but the switch from a 4-3 defensive front to 3-4 likely meant that the player simply didn't meet the scheme.

Wide receiver David Nelson was hoped to be healthy enough to participate in training camp, at least partially. However, he only had one active game in the preseason as his 2012 knee injury took longer to heal than first expected. Without playing or practice time, the Browns couldn't use a roster spot on him despite how promising he had looked prior to the injury.

Rookie safety Jamoris Slaughter seems to be a prime candidate for the practice squad; that's also where at least one of their released running backs could land as well. 

Previewing and Analyzing the Practice Squad

The Browns announced their practice squad on Monday morning. Of an allowed eight players, they have signed seven. Those players are as follows:

• WR Jasper Collins
• DB Kip Edwards
• DB Darius Eubanks
• DB Terrence Frederick
• WR Tori Gurley
• DB Julian Posey
• DB Jamoris Slaughter

Most interesting about this practice squad is that only two—Slaughter and Gurley—spent training camp with the Browns. The rest are external signings, which meshes with the roster changes the Browns have already made just two days into the process. 

Final Depth Chart

Here is what the Browns' depth chart looks like headed into Week 1 of the regular season:

QB: Brandon Weeden, Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer

RB: Trent Richardson, Bobby Rainey, Dennis Johnson

WR1: Josh Gordon, Travis Benjamin

WR2: Greg Little, Davone Bess, Josh Cooper

FB: Chris Ogbonnaya

TE: Jordan Cameron, Gary Barnidge, MarQuies ray, Keavon Milton

LT: Joe Thomas, Rashad Butler, Martin Wallace

LG: John Greco, Jason Pinkston, Garrett Gilkey

C: Alex Mack, Patrick Lewis

RG: Shawn Lauvao

RT: Mitchell Schwartz, Oniel Cousins

LDE: Ahtyba Rubin, John Hughes

NT: Phil Taylor, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen

RDE: Desmond Bryant, Billy Winn, Armonty Bryant

LOLB: Paul Kruger, Quentin Groves, Eric Martin

LILB: Craig Robertson, Tank Carder

RILB: D'Qwell Jackson, Brandon Magee

ROLB: Jabaal Sheard, Barkevious Mingo, Paul Hazel

LCB: Joe Haden, Leon McFadden

RCB: Buster Skrine, Chris Owens

SS: T.J. Ward, Johnson Bademosi, Josh Aubrey

FS: Tashaun Gipson

P: Spencer Lanning

K: Billy Cundiff

H: Spencer Lanning

LS: Christian Yount, Billy Winn

KR: Johnson Bademosi, Travis Benjamin, Buster Skrine

PR: Travis Benjamin, Davone Bess, Josh Cooper, Mike Edwards, Naaman Roosevelt

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Starters and Injury Notes

Because of the cuts that are looming, there's no guarantee that every player currently listed as a Browns starter will remain that way once the weekend is over.

However, it's worth taking a look at who is atop Cleveland's depth chart and who is still working their way back from injuries.

These are Pro Football Focus' (subscription required) starters for the Browns based on their Week 3 preseason lineup against the Indianapolis Colts. The Browns' official website does not list a depth chart at present. 

Starters

QB: Brandon Weeden

RB: Trent Richardson

WR1: Josh Gordon

WR2: Greg Little

TE: Jordan Cameron

FB: Brad Smelley

LT: Joe Thomas

LG: John Greco

C: Alex Mack

RG: Oniel Cousins

RT: Mitchell Schwartz

LDE: Ahtyba Rubin

NT: Phil Taylor

RDE: Billy Winn

LOLB: Paul Kruger

LILB: D'Qwell Jackson

RILB: Craig Robertson

ROLB: Quentin Groves

LCB: Joe Haden

RCB: Buster Skrine

FS: Tashaun Gipson

SS: T.J. Ward

K: Shayne Graham

P: Spencer Lanning

H: Spencer Lanning 

LS: Christian Yount

PR: Travis Benjamin

KR: Johnson Bademosi

Injury Notes

With no official depth chart to work off of, it's already clear that some of these players are starters based on injury.

Oniel Cousins started against the Colts at right guard—where Garrett Gilkey has also seen time—because of ankle injuries suffered by Jason Pinkston and Shawn Lauvao. 

Lauvao will miss the first two or three regular-season games whereas Pinkston's status is uncertain.

Elsewhere, linebacker Barkevious Mingo is out with a bruised lung, running back Dion Lewis is done for the year with a broken leg and The News-Herald's Jeff Schudel is reporting that tight end Jordan Cameron is day-to-day with a groin strain.

Also day-to-day is outside linebacker Jabaal Sheard. Quentin Groves is the starter in his place. Desmond Bryant has been battling back spasms, which is why Billy Winn was a starter against the Colts.

1st Round of Roster Cuts

Teams must pare their rosters down from a maximum of 90 players to 75 by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. As of now, after releasing six players, the Browns have 83 men on their roster.

Though the team has made no formal announcement, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports that these cuts have been made:  

• WR Jordan Norwood
• CB Vernon Kearney
• DE Dave Kruger
• WR Cordell Roberson
• ILB Tommy Smith

Ulrich would later confirm that Norwood has been released.

On Tuesday, the Browns reached their 75-man roster. According to the official release, they cut:

• LB Kendrick Adams
• OL Dominic Alford
• WR Dominique Croom
• DL Nicholas Jean-Baptiste
• FB Owen Marecic
• OL Ryan Miller
• TE Travis Tannahill

The Browns also placed running back Montario Hardesty on injured reserve and offensive lineman Chris Faulk on the reserve/non-football injury list.

Cleveland also released cornerback Trevin Wade with an injury settlement, according to Brian McIntyre of Yahoo! Sports.

The only surprise here is Norwood, who has missed a chunk of training camp and two preseason games with a hamstring injury. As Ulrich notes, Norwood's release could free up a roster spot for second-year receiver Josh Cooper. 

Hardesty dodged a bullet by being placed on injured reserve rather than not being cut outright. Hardesty didn't participate much in training camp due to a hamstring injury; a knee procedure kept him out of the preseason. 

Depth Chart Post-75-Man Roster Cuts and Previewing 53-Man Roster Cuts

The Cleveland Browns do not have a depth chart currently on their official team website, so for our present purposes, we are going with the one detailed at Ourlads.com, adjusted for the team's recent cuts. 

QB: Brandon Weeden, Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer

RB: Trent Richardson, Brandon Jackson, Miguel Maysonet, Jamaine Cook

WR1: Josh Gordon, Travis Benjamin, David Nelson, Tori Gurley, Naaman Roosevelt

WR2: Greg Little, Davone Bess, Josh Cooper, Mike Edwards

FB: Chris Ogbonnaya, Brad Smelley

TE: Jordan Cameron, Gary Barnidge, Kellen Davis, Dan Gronkowski, 

LT: Joe Thomas, Rashad Butler, Martin Wallace

LG: John Greco, Jason Pinkston, Garrett Gilkey

C: Alex Mack, Jarrod Shaw, Braxton Cave

RG: Shawn Lauvao, Aaron Adams, Caylin Hauptmann

RT: Mitchell Schwartz, Oniel Cousins

LDE: Ahtyba Rubin, John Hughes, Brian Sanford

NT: Phil Taylor, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen

RDE: Desmond Bryant, Billy Winn, Hall Davis, Armonty Bryant

LOLB: Paul Kruger, Quentin Groves, Justin Staples

LILB: Craig Robertson, Tank Carder, James-Michael Johnson, Justin Cole

RILB: D'Qwell Jackson, L.J. Fort

ROLB: Jabaal Sheard, Barkevious Mingo, Paul Hazel

LCB: Joe Haden, Leon McFadden, Trevin Wade, Abdul Kanneh

RCB: Buster Skrine, Chris Owens, Akeem Auguste

SS: T.J. Ward, Johnson Bademosi, Josh Aubrey

FS: Tashaun Gipson, Jamoris Slaughter, Kent Richardson

P: Spencer Lanning, Colton Schmidt

K: Shayne Graham, Brandon Bogotay

H: Spencer Lanning, Colton Schmidt

LS: Christian Yount, Billy Winn

KR: Johnson Bademosi, Travis Benjamin, Buster Skrine, Naaman Roosevelt, Mike Edwards

PR: Travis Benjamin, Davone Bess, Josh Cooper, Mike Edwards, Naaman Roosevelt

Tori Gurley, Mike Edwards and Naaman Roosevelt are all candidates for release when the Browns reduce their roster to 53 men on Saturday. Free safety Kent Richardson, cornerback Abdul Kanneh and defensive ends Hall Davis and Armonty Bryant are also on the roster bubble.

Free Agents the Browns Have Signed or Are Rumored to Be Pursuing

The Browns finally have their kicker. Tom Withers of the Associated Press says the team has signed free agent Billy Cundiff.

The Browns confirmed the signing of free agent linebacker Paul Hazel, via their website, who most recently played for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is an undrafted rookie.

Brian McIntyre of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Browns have claimed linebacker Eric Martin off of waivers from the New Orleans Saints.

The Browns have confirmed the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's reports that the Browns have signed the following six players via waiver claims:

• TE MarQuies Gray
• TE Keavon Milton
• RB Dennis Johnson
• RB Bobby Rainey
• OL Patrick Lewis
• LB Brandon Magee

Of these signings, Rainey is the most interesting. Upon Rainey's and Johnson's signings the Browns immediately parted ways with Brandon Jackson, and Rainey, a former Baltimore Raven, should take up the No. 2 job vacated by his release. 

This is a roster very much in flux. The Browns have yet to sign a kicker, which means more roster moves are in the very immediate future.