Brantley, Vitale among the notable cuts in Browns 53-man roster trim

The Cleveland Browns announced their 53-man roster on Saturday. With the trim to the roster, the Browns made some notable cuts. The most notable player to not make the Browns 53-man roster was probably defensive lineman Caleb Brantley, who was the Browns 2017 sixth round pick. A lot was expected of the former Gator, but the production never lived up to the talent level. It was thought that depth would be the saving grace for Brantley, but the Browns still decided to let him go amid the thin depth chart at interior defensive line.

Besides Brantley, here are the 17 other players who were cut from the roster: linebacker B.J. Bello, tight end Devon Cajuste, running back Matthew Dayes, offensive lineman Christian DiLauro, offensive lineman Spencer Drango, defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale, defensive lineman Zaycoven Henderson, running back Dontrell Hilliard, receiver Blake Jackson, cornerback Mike Jordan, cornerback Montrel Meander, defensive end Nate Orchard, defensive back Tigie Sankoh, receiver Da’Mari Scott, linebacker Brady Sheldon, cornerback Simeon Thomas and punter Justin Vogel. The Browns waived fullback Danny Vitale, but with an injury designation. Cleveland also traded a 2019 seventh-round pick to the New Orleans Saints for defensive lineman Devaroe Lawrence.

Brantley was the headliner, but some of the other cuts were intriguing. Dayes and Cajuste can be placed in the same boat. They both had good preseason performances, but the number crunch was against them and so their release was not a surprise. The Browns did not have room for those two in the running back unit or tight end unit. Drango and Jordan were surprising to me because I thought their previous experience with the Browns would push them through. Orchard was just not good enough on a consistent basis, despite the pick-six he had in Thursday’s preseason finale. And, it is pretty interesting that the Browns are going for the time being without a true fullback.

Looking at the current 53-man roster, there are some intriguing elements to it. Cleveland decided to keep both Greg Robinson and Desmond Harrison on the roster. I thought it would be one or the other making the squad. The Browns also decided to keep four tight ends for now. Orson Charles was a player I did not expect to see make the squad.

The current 53-man roster will most likely not be the one we see make it to Week 1 of the regular season. Browns General Manager John Dorsey will likely be pretty active over the course of the next couple days in both the waiver wire and trade market. The positions I can see some change coming are at wide receiver, offensive line, tight end, interior defensive line, and cornerback. Hold tight on getting any of these backend of the roster guys jerseys quite yet.