The Cleveland Browns locked in their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, didn’t add anyone from the initial waiver claims but also didn’t have any of their players claimed on Wednesday.
The next step was for the team to start to put together their 16-man practice squad which can be up to 17 if they added an International Player Pathway program person.
The team announced the signing of 13 players that they had just recently cut:
DT Jowon Briggs
CB Tony Brown II
WR Jaelon Darden
S Christopher Edmonds
CB Justin Hardee Sr.
T Germain Ifedi
DT Sam Kamara
T Roy Mbaeteka (International Player Pathway Program)
WR James Proche II
LB Winston Reid
LS Rex Sunahara
T Lorenzo Thompson
WR Michael Woods II
DT Siaki Ika was noticeably absent from the list.
There has been a report that Mike Ford Jr. would be returning to the team after one season in Cleveland last year but that was not made official as of yet. Ford spent most of his time on special teams but was not graded highly.
With Mbaeteka as one of the signings, the Browns officially have four practice squad spots available. According to a report, one of those will go to TE Cameron Latu:
Latu was drafted in the third round of last year’s NFL draft, just after Ika, by the San Francisco 49ers. Their head coach, Kyle Shanahan, lauded the development of Latu after the Niners final preseason game:
“He made a bunch of good plays,” Shanahan said. “I thought he blocked well. He’s been doing better and better each week in practice. It’s been nice to string together here a training camp where he stayed healthy. I think it’s showing out there in the games.”
While those are nice words, Latu was waived by San Francisco and was not claimed by another team on Wednesday.
The 6’5” Alabama Crimson Tide tight end had 56 receptions for 787 yards and 12 touchdowns in his final two years in college. He did not record a reception in 24 games prior to his redshirt junior season.
Latu spent all of his rookie season last year on injured reserve.
If Ford and Latu are officially added, Cleveland will have two more practice squad spots to fill. One could end up being QB Tyler Huntley if he is released and does not find a landing spot with another team.
Ika could be a return option if he doesn’t find a team interested in him that is a better fit than the Browns.
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