5 Browns Who Won't Be Back if Cleveland Misses the Playoffs

4. Shelby Harris, DL

The Cleveland Browns really did a lot of work to their defensive front in the 2023 offseason, and adding Shelby Harris has been a pretty underrated move for them. He's got four tackles for loss in 11 games along with 1.5 sacks and four batted passes. The batted passes have long been a staple of Shelby Harris's game, and it's such a great asset that he brings to the table. It may not be as sexy on the stat sheet as a sack, but batted passes can help get you off the field as well defensively.

Unfortunately, I don't know if the Browns are going to be able to bring Harris back next year, especially if the team misses the postseason. Harris will likely have a variety of one-year offers elsewhere, and the Browns will have to figure out what they're going to do to bring back players like Jordan Elliott and Maurice Hurst, who have made great contributions this year as well.

5. Elijah Moore, WR

I think this one is a little bit of a hot take, but I also think it's fair to say that things have not worked out with Elijah Moore the way the Browns would have hoped. They might need to get as much value for him as they possibly can in the offseason because I'm not sure he's a great fit.

He's got just 418 yards on 43 receptions (9.7 per catch) this season and even with Moore on the field, Amari Cooper is still having to do way too much work to keep the Browns' passing game afloat. I think the Browns could look at the investment they made (Draft capital-wise) and determine that getting a mid-late pick in 2024 for him is better value than keeping him on the roster for another year and letting him walk in 2025.

Moore doesn't count too much against next year's salary cap (just under $1.9 million) but those could end up being valuable cap savings if the Browns are able to trade him to someone else.

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