The Opening Drive 8/21: Trades Winds About To Sweep Across the NFL
The Browns are getting aggressive and the 53-man roster requires some cash study.
The NFL kicked off roster restructuring early this week with four trades involving lower-level roster types—small moves on the surface, but ones that reveal teams’ urgency to patch problem spots ahead of cutdowns. While most of these are late-round pick swaps, they allow teams to fill needs without exposing players to the waiver wire, where control is limited.
The Browns entered the mix—on the selling end, surprisingly—by shipping Jowon Briggs to the Jets in a late-round pick swap. It’s not a deal many would have predicted, but it signals how confident the front office feels about the defensive tackle room, while also showing what kind of moves they may seek in return to bolster thinner areas of the roster.
On Tuesday morning, Dianna Russini reported that Cleveland is among several teams calling around the league about running back depth. That’s not shocking given Quinshon Judkins’ unresolved situation, leaving the Browns with Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr. as the veteran backbone of the room. While Dylan Sampson offers a spark, the group lacks the recharge that Judkins and Sampson together were expected to bring, making a fresh face via trade or claim a realistic outcome.
That news isn’t shocking given Quinshon Judkins’ unresolved situation, leaving the Browns with Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr. as the veteran backbone of the room. While Dylan Sampson offers a spark, the group lacks the recharge that Judkins and Sampson together were expected to bring, making a fresh face via trade or claim a realistic outcome.
Expect Cornerback is another position firmly on the radar. Depth at the spot remains Cleveland’s biggest roster question, and the front office is expected to monitor potential trade or waiver options closely. Offensive tackle could also enter the mix after camp failed to produce a reliable fourth option and swing tackle Cornelius Lucas missed practice yesterday.
These are all items to watch closely as the Browns move through the week and approach Tuesday’s league-wide cutdown deadline.
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In working through 53-man projections, I wavered on several veterans in crowded rooms. This is most evident on defense, where both the linebacker and safety groups have veterans fighting for spots that round out the depth chart while still maintaining balance across the roster.
The Browns’ current structure includes four quarterbacks who could realistically make the roster—something the team has openly said they might flirt with—and that squeezes surrounding position groups. When trimming down to 53, I kept running into the issue of rooms feeling incomplete because space was eaten up by overstocked groups, most notably at quarterback.
The reality is the Browns will likely only keep three quarterbacks, and even then the roster still feels overloaded. Across the NFL, most teams try to keep just two quarterbacks, relying on proven depth and leaning on the “Emergency Quarterback Rule” if needed. The Browns, however, appear committed to carrying three and then using the emergency rule to their advantage on gamedays.
This is where things get tight. Carrying three quarterbacks means sacrifices elsewhere. Last year, Cleveland initially kept four before moving off Tyler Huntley prior to Week 1, finishing with three into the season. That precedent suggests a similar pathway in 2025: start heavy at quarterback, then trim back, but the squeeze on other position groups is inevitable.
The point here is how one room’s necessity forces other rooms to get tighter. In yesterday’s defensive projection, I cut Devin Bush in favor of keeping just five linebackers to create space. I preferred Jerome Baker, but Brad made a great point on the podcast: cutting Bush would be expensive. Bush carries $2.97M in guarantees this year, while Baker is guaranteed only $717,000.
That financial gap makes Baker the easier cut. Other veterans on the fringe, like Rayshawn Jenkins and Damontae Kazee, sit closer to the $1M mark, and those numbers are easier to navigate when it comes to roster decisions. On offense, DeAndre Carter is in a similar spot with just $767,000 guaranteed. Those lower figures don’t tie the Browns’ hands in the same way.
Veteran contracts always have to be watched closely for decision indicators, and I missed on this one. Bush is almost certainly making the roster, and if they stick with just five linebackers, Baker’s path gets much tougher. Perhaps the Browns can work some roster gymnastics with Mohamoud Diabate’s injury to squeeze Baker in, but right now he’s up against it. The money won’t be the only factor in these decisions, but it will absolutely play a role — and sometimes in ways that aren’t ideal.
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