Cleveland Browns FINAL 53-Man Roster Projection

Projecting the Browns initial cuts on Tuesday and their final 53-man Week 1 roster.

Offense during the final preseason NFL game between the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns on August 23, 2025 at Huntington Bank Field. (Matt Starkey/Cleveland Browns)

I view predicting the 53-man roster as a two-phase process. The first phase is the initial roster that every team must finalize by Tuesday. The second phase is the final 53-man roster, which won’t truly be set until teams sift through the more than 1,000 players who will become available in the coming days. During this period, we’ll see waiver claims, trades, and free-agent signings across the league.

In the past, teams had to carry players on the 53 before moving them to Injured Reserve if they wanted the option to bring them back later in the season. The league has since updated the rule, allowing each team to place two players directly on Injured Reserve with a designation to return. This adjustment reduces some of the roster gymnastics that used to complicate cutdown week.

For my purposes here, I’m attempting to predict the final 53-man roster — not just the one required on Tuesday. Of course, some of the upcoming player movement around the league is impossible to foresee, so pay close attention to the notes and the positions most likely to be upgraded by the end of next week.

*= Player Potentially Replaced By External Addition To Roster

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OFFENSE

Quarterbacks

(Photo Courtesy of the Cleveland Browns)

Notes: The Browns continue to talk as if they’re prepared to carry four quarterbacks into the 2025 season, but the reality is there’s nothing Kenny Pickett offers that Dillon Gabriel can’t match. Cleveland likely wants some draft compensation in return, which means Pickett should survive the initial cutdown and make the first version of the 53. But he won’t be part of the final roster that settles in by week’s end.

Expect the Browns to shop Pickett over the next couple of days while roster movement shakes out across the league. They may have to accept a loss here. Pickett hasn’t been healthy enough to prove to any quarterback-needy team that he can help right now. That’s part of the risk when you take swings on quarterbacks: sometimes you lose draft capital in the process. It’s just the cost of doing business in the quarterback hunt.

Final Roster: Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders (3)

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