Browns: Team cuts three, places another two on IR to cut down to 85

The Browns have cut their active roster to 85 players.

The Cleveland Browns are at the 85 player limit as of Monday afternoon, a whole day before they had to finalize their roster moves. The team ultimately only had to waive three players, as the other two are being retained but kept on the injured reserved list.

The three men waived were OG Cordel Iwuagwu, LB Montrel Meander, and CB Kiondre Thomas; while WR Ryan Switzer and TE Stephen Carlson were placed on the IR. The move allows the team to retain both men for now. Carlson was placed there due to the knee injury he suffered in the preseason win against the Jaguars while Switzer has been placed there due to a foot injury no one has really said much about.

The next cut down to 80 will come after the Week 2 preseason game and should be relatively easy, as there is a lot of depth on this team.

The Browns won’t have any hard cuts to make until the third week

None of the players the Browns cut on Monday were expected to make the team, let alone get major playing time. The next round of five will come at the end of this Sunday’s game (probably on Monday), and shouldn’t be seen as a loss either.

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The problem will come in the final week, where guys who’ve deserved to make the team are ultimately let go. That’s when guys who are borderline starters, or players with good preseasons are going to be seen as interesting, albeit expendable commodities.

The three let go this week had some uniqueness to them but ultimately were just playing at the wrong positions.

Meander had two stints with the Browns and was a player with some versatility throughout his college and pro career. He played wide receiver at Texas, corner at Grambling, and was most known for his stint as a linebacker at various points over the last few seasons.

Thomas was a 2021 undrafted free agent out of Kansas State, but as he plays cornerback and the Browns are stacked there at the moment, he just didn’t have a chance. Lastly, is Iwuagwu, who had to contend with six other men already ahead of him on a pretty flushed-out depth chart. He was as unlikely to make the team as they came.

Most of the team can rest easy, realizing that they have another week to showcase their skills but as the end of the preseason rapidly approaches, some of the guys we’re rooting for may end up being elsewhere to start the regular season.