Cleveland Browns: Here we go again with Chad Thomas

The Cleveland Browns are approaching cut down day to get down to 53 players and they are in the same situation as they were last year. Deciding whether or not to keep former third round pick Chad Thomas over a player that has shown they can contribute.

Stop me if you've heard this before. The Cleveland Browns are only a few days away from their final cut down and Chad Thomas hasn't shown anything, but there's still the possibility he will make the final roster. And unlike a player like Austin Corbett, for the second year in a row, the cost of keeping Thomas would mean releasing a player that can help the Browns on Sundays this year.

Last year, the Browns kept Thomas and released Carl Nassib, who went on to be a contributor for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This year, the player that would likely be cut to keep Thomas would be Anthony Zettel. To this point, Zettel has shown he is the fourth best edge player on the roster behind Myles Garrett, Olivier Vernon and Genard Avery. It's unclear if the Browns opt to keep five edge players in order to keep four defensive tackles or if they're more likely to swap those numbers.

Regardless of the decision, the Browns are too talented on the defensive line to carry dead weight, which to this point, has summed up Thomas's career. Injury has played a role this year as a scary hit that had him carted off and was diagnosed as a neck strain has impacted his ability to show off what he can do, but there has been very little to this point.

Meanwhile, Zettel has played with the ones and twos and performed. He's not making a ton of impact plays, but he does his job and is an effective part of the defensive scheme when on the field. Thomas at best is an unknown, but at worst, he's a non-entity.

Freddie Kitchens has consistently said that both in training camp and the preseason, he wants to see what he's going to get from players. He knows what he's getting from Zettel. If he knows what he's getting from Thomas, it's not good.

Ultimately, the final decision has Kitchens' input but is John Dorsey's decision, so it will be interesting to see if Dorsey has the same attitude with the roster of if he decides he's willing to let go of a player that can help the Browns in favor of one that hasn't.