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One of the toughest cuts the Cleveland Browns had to make on Tuesday was wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, who had performed well in the preseason.
Hodge would have been an excessive luxury for the Browns, who are already deep at wide receiver with the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Rashard Higgins and Anthony Schwartz. There simply wasn’t enough room for Hodge, who would have been the No. 6 wide receiver on the roster making $2.13 million.
Hodge didn’t have any hard feelings after being cut loose by the Browns.
“Thank you Cleveland,” he wrote in a tweet.” It’s all love. A lot more to prove!”
KhaDarel Hodge Embraced Stiff Competition
Hodge played in 25 games over the last two seasons with the Browns. He notched 15 catches for 256 yards over that span. Hodge also plays a role on special teams, playing 82 snaps last season. There was a point last season where he looked to be the Browns No. 3 pass-catcher, but Higgins quickly snatched that back, excelling once Beckham went down with a torn ACL.
Hodge — who had a pair of preseason touchdown grabs — embraced the situation he was in with the Browns, being pushed by others in the talented unit.
“We just come out and compete every day. We know we have a great receiving room. We push each other every day to come out and be the best every day,” Hodge told reporters after a preseason win against the Giants. “There are no plays off. Every opportunity counts. We never know when it could be your last so everything is important in the receiving room.”
The move to part ways with Hodge does seem to bode well for Beckham, who has slowly been returning to live-action during camp. Beckham passed his physical prior to camp and is expected to be ready for Week 1 against the Chiefs.
Browns WR Davion Davis on Suspended List
An interesting wrinkle for the Browns was the fact that wide receiver Davion Davis was placed on the reserve/suspended by commissioner list, essentially giving the team some extra time to find room for him. The Browns could also choose to waive him, depending on how things shake out. However, Davis’ tweet following roster cuts sure didn’t seem like someone who would soon be out of a job.
Davis was suspended for the first two games of this season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. The suspension stems from a 2019 incident in which Davis was arrested for DUI while he was a member of the Vikings. He pleaded guilty to careless driving late last year and had been waiting on his punishment. He didn’t play on an NFL team in 2020.
“He has grown,” Stefanski said of Davis. “He is a mature young man. I think he knows that he made a mistake, and ultimately, he has to answer to that, but I do see a mature young man.”
As Browns general manager Andrew Berry noted, this is just the initial 53-man roster for the Browns. A lot can change in the weeks to come depending on a variety of factors.
“Roster decisions are always a combination between the front office and the coaching staff making sure it’s not just the most talented 53, but the right 53 to serve the different roles we need on offense, defense and the kicking game throughout the season,” Berry said in a team release. “It’s the initial 53, it’s not necessarily the final 53. There are certain injury situations, certain position groups where you are still juggling the dynamics over the course of the next several days. It is fluid and it’s not just fluid within this first week. Roster building really is a 365-day-a-year process and it will remain fluid as we head into the regular season as well.”
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