The four most surprising Browns roster cuts.
The Browns reduced their roster to 53 on Tuesday, and these are the four most surprise cuts.
By the 4 p.m. deadline on Tuesday afternoon, the Cleveland Browns had reduced their roster to 53 players and placed others on injured reserve. There will be numerous roster moves over the next few days as players throughout the league clear waivers. It is possible that some of the cut players will return to the Browns.
These cuts did not include many huge surprises, but there were several that were stunning. A few players will almost certainly be assigned to new teams and given another shot.
Here are the four most surprising cuts the Cleveland Browns made.
Siaki Ika
This move is startling only because the Browns recognized they committed a draft gaffe last year by selecting Siaki Ika in the third round. Ika is a massive individual, but the ball was snapped. We’ve seen Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski continue to give their drafted players second and third chances, but this was a necessary decision. Berry strengthened the defensive tackle room this offseason, and Ika will now have to find work elsewhere.
Isaiah Thomas
On the downside of getting go of homegrown, drafted players, Isaiah Thomas’s release was not what I had hoped for, as he was one of those “project players” that Berry covets late in the draft and in free agency. Thomas was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft and played in ten games as a rookie, with one sack, two pass deflections, and nine tackles. Unfortunately for Thomas, a knee ailment forced him to miss the entire 2023 season. That is the life that late-round picks lead, for better or worse.
James Proche II
With the revised kickoff regulations for the 2024 season, James Proche appeared to be a guarantee to make the roster, particularly with Nyheim Hines on IR, but that was not the case. Proche was formerly with the Baltimore Ravens, where he handled punts as a rookie. The Browns signed him last summer, and he returned 22 punts for 197 yards. While he did not have a catch in the 2023 season, he did receive a touchdown pass from former Ravens colleague Tyler Huntley.
D’Onta Foreman
This is the most startling and perplexing cut the Browns made on Tuesday, as D’Onta Foreman appeared to be on track to replace Kareem Hunt in Cleveland. On Monday, the team revealed that standout running back Nick Chubb would miss at least the first four games of the season after placing him on injured reserve.
With Foreman’s release, the Browns’ only running backs are Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr. Ford stepped in brilliantly for Chubb last year and was the pre-determined starting back. Strong ran 63 times for Cleveland last season, totaling 291 yards.
Foreman is now likely to return to the team without having to clear waivers because his contract has been terminated. If he does not return, it is possible that Berry has another plan. At the end of the day, the roster will have three or four running backs in Week 1.
