One Surprise Cleveland Browns Cut to Expect After OTAs

Even though the beginning of the 2026 NFL regular season, and with it, the official debut of the Cleveland Browns offensive line is still months away, there’s already a lot of optimism floating in the air in regards to what the new-look unit could bring.

However, not everyone will benefit from these changes, and one recent high draft pick could soon find himself on the outside looking in.

Zak Zinter, a third-round draft pick from the 2024 NFL Draft out of Michigan, might be the odd man out in the numbers game at guard.

A four-year starter at Ann Arbor -- including the COVID-shortened 2020 season -- Zinter earned first-team All-American honors in 2023, when he was also voted team captain for the eventual National Champion Wolverines.

Standing at 6’6’’ and 310 pounds, Zinter was picked up in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft with the 84th overall pick, their second player drafted that year.

Zinter was able to play 17 games as a rookie, including three starts, but very discreetly appeared in only five contests last year. Once hailed as a possible first-rounder before suffering a fractured tibia and fibula in November of 2023 against Ohio State, Zinter has just been unable to make a difference at the next level, where he was once considered a potential successor to Wyatt Teller or Joel Bitonio.

After Cleveland’s offseason moves all over the offensive line, especially at the guard position, Zinter’s roster spot is in serious peril.

Why is Zak Zinter’s spot with the Browns in jeopardy?

Teller moved on to the Houston Texans, and the door seems to have closed on a potential Bitonio return, despite no official announcement on a retirement, either.

It was obvious that Cleveland would have to pour some significant resources into the guard position, and that’s exactly what they did.

The Browns surprised many by signing former Chargers’ first-round pick Zion Johnson to a three-year 49.5 million deal, and followed that up with the addition of Elgton Jenkins on a two-year 24 million contract.

While Jenkins is widely viewed as the team’s probable center, new head coach Todd Monken did mention he’d “love” for him to play guard earlier this offseason. Additionally, the Browns re-signed Teven Jenkins on a one-year $4 million agreement.

At center, the Browns are monitoring how things play out between fourth-year veteran Luke Wypler -- coming off injury -- and rookie fifth-rounder Parker Brailsford, who some observers have mentioned as a genuine possibility for a starting role this year. If Brailsford or Wypler look good enough at center for a starting gig, Elgton Jenkins would then shift to a guard spot, sending Teven Jenkins to the bench.

As for Zinter, who already participated in the team’s voluntary minicamp playing behind Johnson, the team visualizes him as a guard, meaning he isn’t expected to compete at tackle or center, but general manager Andrew Berry did offer that he could move on either side back in March.

“Zak’s most natural position is guard. He can do both.”

This lack of flexibility certainly hurts Zinter’s chances of sticking with the team. And that’s not even mentioning that the team’s former left tackle Dawand Jones, or the team’s currently projected left tackle Spencer Fano, a first-round pick, could eventually be forced to make a move to guard in the future.

Other names that are vying for a roster spot on the offensive line include veteran guard Kendrick Green -- who can also line up at center -- and this year’s third rounder Austin Barber, who should get a shot at the tackle position, first.

The truth of the matter is that part of the reason why the Browns were forced to make all those moves across its offensive line, is that Zinter and a few other names on the current roster didn’t step up when they had the chance to. Now, it might be too late.

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