9 Browns Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday's Roster Deadline

2. Zaire Mitchell-Paden

Unless the Browns carry more than three tight ends (unlikely), then it's pretty clear what the trio will look like. David Njoku's status as TE1 was never in question. Jordan Akins and Harrison Bryant are duking it out for the TE2 spot, and while I think Akins is the clear answer there, that doesn't meant Bryant shouldn't stick around as the TE3. And with that depth, there's simply not much reason to carry any more than three.

So in a sense, we can use Zaire Mitchell-Paden to also mean "any tight end who's not those three," but ZMP did seem to have the best chance at making it, so let's focus on him.

Mitchell-Paden showed some receiving chops in the preseason with STATS and he had his moments in training camp.

But how are you going to justify carrying four tight ends on this roster? With a deeper wide receiver room than we've had in years, even if the Browns keep just three RBs that's a very hard roster spot to justify.

Admittedly I don't think Harrison Bryant is a long-term answer at the position. In a perfect world, ZMP keeps developing and replaces Bryant once his contact is up at the end of the season. But you can't keep a guy on the roster for only that purpose.

Maybe the Browns shock everyone and cut Bryant (we have the cap space to make the dead money that would bring on less of a concern), but I think the most likely path here is that Mitchell-Paden gets waived and then stashed on the practice squad.

If that happens, look for Mitchell-Paden to get a crack at the active roster if any tight ends get hurt this year, and to make the 53-man unit for real in 2024.