Andrew Berry May Speak Softly but He Made a Bold Statement With Initial 53

My initial thoughts on the Browns initial 53 man roster and where do we go from here. Andrew Berry certainly made a statement with the players he kept.

The Cleveland Browns officially announced their initial 53-man roster today before taking the practice field. While there weren't many surprises, I do think General Manager Andrew Berry made some statements with his actions. 

Roster Gymnastics

Due to NFL rules agreed to with the NFLPA, general managers from all teams need to work a little magic on cut-down day. Berry had to make some moves today himself in order to field the best version of the Browns that should be in place by the end of the week.

In a move that caught many by surprise, the team announced that it would terminate the contract of defensive tackle Maurice Hurst. Hurst may have signed with no hype during the offseason, (mostly from injury concerns) but after recording multiple sacks in the preseason while looking explosive, the conversation around him has changed.

With Jordan Kunaszyk needing to take up a roster spot today so that he can be placed on short term IR tomorrow, Hurst was asked to take one for the team. He will undoubtedly be the first veteran brought back as he is not subject to a claim from another team.

Many people are speculating that the team will do the same with Michael Dunn but I'm not so sure. The theory being floated is that defensive end Alex Wright will just be placed on injured reserve, the same as Kunaszyk. 

I admit, that I have no idea about how he is progressing from his knee injury suffered but I have a hard time seeing them wanting him to miss the first four weeks of the season from an injury with a normal six-week timeline. More than five weeks will have already passed by the time we play the Bengals in the opener.

Maybe he is out one or two weeks but you wouldn't put him on IR unless the prognosis is longer. Bottom line is that I think we will find out about Dunn but Im not so sure he is coming back to the roster right away. I also wrote previously about how the plan might be to kick Ethan Pocic out to guard and have Nick Harris come in at center in order to give you the best five on your O-line in the event of an injury.

That also gives them the flexibility to only carry the nine on the roster that I predicted over a week ago in my only 53-man projection article. The same nine by the way that Berry named to the 53 today. Perhaps Dunn can be one of the two guards brought to the practice squad and look like an even bigger genius. We shall see though, as the situation is fluid and potential claims could change things in a hurry.

Support for the new coordinators.

To me the biggest thing that stands out are the sheer numbers of the makeup. With only twenty-three on offense and twenty-seven on defense, Berry is giving every available resource possible to both defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone.

It started in free agency when the team spent a majority of focus on providing both with players that fit the desired skill sets of the two coaches. With the expectation of signing Maurice Hurst back to the roster, that will put the defensive line at ten players as Schwartz loves to rotate guys in and out to keep them fresh. 

The back half of the defense is where the numbers get real interesting. After Jordan Kunaszyk is placed on injured reserve that will leave the group at six players at linebacker. When it comes to defensive backs, the roster carries five safeties and six cornerbacks which brings the total to eleven. 

While losing Kunaszyk hurts the specials teams unit, Berry provided plenty of reinforcements for Ventrone. Matt Adams and Mike Ford who are the two aces signed in free agency both make the team. In addition D'Anthony Bell making it now give us an abundance of talent on kick coverage. 

The defense has been the biggest positive of our team throughout the preseason and those expectations will only become greater with Myles Garrett in the mix. The special teams play has been a bit disjointed with trying so many guys out and not having many live reps. Make no mistake about it moving forward though, Ventrone will have no excuse to not have a top unit this year.