The Browns used one of the league’s best waiver spots to add a cornerback, then turned around and made the kind of roster move that tells you where the real holes still are.
Cleveland entered waiver day with the No. 6 priority after the NFL’s cutdown rush, putting Andrew Berry in position to claim more than one player if he wanted. In the end, the Browns made just one addition: rookie cornerback Toriano Pride Jr., a seventh-round pick of the Bills this past April.
Pride gives Cleveland another body in a cornerback room that already includes Denzel Ward, Tyson Campbell, Myles Harden, Michael Coats Jr., and Mekhi Blackmon. Coats has been dealing with a lower-body injury from training camp, and Blackmon had not practiced with the team after being claimed on waivers late last week. Even so, the Browns chose to address the secondary first.
They cleared the spot by releasing veteran Julian Okwara, a surprising move that left Cleveland with only three true defensive ends: Jared Verse, Isaiah McGuire, and Derek Barnett.
“The #Browns are releasing veteran edge Julian Okwara, source says. A move indicative of roster juggling.”
Okwara is a vested veteran, which means he could still find his way back to Cleveland before Week 1 as the roster shuffle continues.
Pride’s path to the Browns came after Buffalo let him go following a preseason in which he allowed nine receptions on 11 targets, according to Pro Football Focus. Still, Cleveland got a longer look at him during the joint practice with the Bills on Aug. 20, and Todd Monken made it clear the staff had him on the radar.
“After we got done practicing with them, his name came up,” Browns head coach Todd Monken said of Pride. “Should he be a 53 casualty would we have interest? And the answer was yes.”
What stands out, though, is not the cornerback claim. It’s the spots Cleveland passed on.
The Browns did not put in claims for Denver tight end Justin Joly or Philadelphia tight end Cameron Latu, even though their current tight end depth chart - Harold Fannin Jr., seventh-round rookie Carsen Ryan, and core special teams veteran Blake Whiteheart - looks thin. Joly, the highest-drafted player from the 2026 class to be waived, went in the middle of the fifth round, 18 picks before Cleveland selected Joe Royer.
Royer was already placed on the reserve/non-football illness list because of the personal issue that kept him out of training camp, which made Joly a natural fit on paper. The Dolphins ended up claiming Joly with the No. 11 waiver priority.
Latu would have offered another option. The former third-round pick of the 49ers spent the 2025 season with the Eagles, where he worked mostly as a blocker and even lined up out of the backfield at times.
He also made seven special teams tackles in 2025, per PFF. New England landed him instead, using the 31st waiver priority.
On the edge, the Browns’ Sunday cuts cleared waivers, which makes those players unrestricted free agents and free to sign with any team’s active roster or practice squad.
And for now, the preseason experiment with Mike Hall Jr. on the edge is here to stay.
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