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Jakeem Grant Sr. walked into Saturday’s preseason finale hopeful to keep his spot on the Cleveland Browns roster, but those hopes were dashed after just one play.
Grant already faced an uphill battle to make the team in 2023 just one year after the Browns inked him to a three-year, $10 million contract. The 2021 Pro Bowl return man, formerly of the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears, was in line to assume return duties in Cleveland last season and compete as a second-string option in the wide receiver room. Then Grant tore his Achilles tendon in August 2022, upending those plans.
Bad injury luck struck again in the Browns’ preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, August 26, when Grant went back to return the opening kickoff and had to be carted off the field following the play with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.
The team had not released specific details of Grant’s injury as of Saturday night, but leaving the field on a cart for the second offseason in a row has all but sealed his fate. Chris Pokorny of SB Nation’s Dawgs by Nature agreed by predicting Grant as among those players who will be cut when the Browns reduce the roster to 53 players on August 29.
Even Absent Injury, Jakeem Grant Sr. May Have Lost Browns Job to Austin Watkins Jr.
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GettyWide receiver David Bell (left) and wide receiver Austin Watkins Jr. (right) of the Cleveland Browns celebrate a touchdown during an NFL preseason game against the Washington Commanders in August 2023.
One player who Pokorney projected to make the 53-man roster is wide receiver Austin Watkins Jr. A training camp surprise this summer, the 25-year-old rookie has dazzled, putting up 16 catches for 257 yards and two touchdowns across four preseason contests.
Watkins is slotted into the sixth wide receiver spot, a roster position for which he, Grant, Anthony Schwartz and Jaelon Darden have been competing since the preseason began. Schwartz didn’t dress on Saturday and is out of the running to make the roster. Grant’s injury has disqualified him as well.
Darden, too, has been dealing with an injury. The hyrbid wide receiver/return man came back to practice this week but did not suit up for Saturday’s contest against Kansas City. It appears unlikely he will make the roster unless the Browns decide to carry seven wideouts because they view Darden as their best option in the punt-return game.
Some WRs May Land on Browns Practice Squad, Jakeem Grant Sr. Not Among Them
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GettyWide receiver Anthony Schwartz of the Cleveland Browns won’t make the 53-man roster to start the 2023 regular season, though he could end up on the practice squad.
While it feels unlikely Darden will make the roster, which is only a slight possibility because of Grant’s injury on Saturday, it is possible that Darden and/or Schwartz wind up on the Browns practice squad.
Practice squad signings will take place after the team announces terminations on league-wide cut day later this month.
The entire wide receiver position battle might have been different in Cleveland if doctors never discovered blood clots in free agent acquisition Marquise Goodwin’s legs and lungs earlier this summer. Goodwin also figures to be cut at the end of August, though he could still end up with the Browns down the line if he recovers from the blood clot issue and makes a return to action.
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