With the signing of DeAndre Carter, Jack Duffin takes a look at how the Cleveland Browns 2025 Wide Receiver position room will probably look once we get to week one of the season.
It can take a couple of days for the official numbers to come out once a contract is agreed as we don't just need the total numbers from the agent but the full breakdown of everything in the deal. In the meantime I am going to take a look at how this addition changes the position room and who the players in it most likely are come week one of the season.
Sources: The #Browns are signing WR and return specialist DeAndre Carter to a 1-year deal. He gets nearly $800K guaranteed.
The 10-year veteran spent last year in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/CUiJ28jjFp
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 19, 2025
My belief is that this will be a veteran salary benefit deal, he gets paid somewhere around $1,337,500, but only $1,145,000 will ever count on the salary cap. Similar to the deals signed by Michael Dunn and Rodney McLeod last year.
Previous Position Room
We will start by looking at how Andrew Berry's position room has been built to start the season each year:
2020 - OBJ, Landry,Peoples-Jones, Higgins, Hodge, Natson
2021 - OBJ, Landry, Peoples-Jones, Higgins, Schwartz, Felton
2022 - Cooper, Peoples-Jones, Schwartz, Bell, Woods, Felton
2023 - Cooper, Moore, Peoples-Jones, Goodwin, Bell, Tillman
2024 - Cooper, Jeudy, Moore, Tillman, Bell, Thrash
Cash Spending Per Year
2020 - $33,256,608
2021 - $32,814,800
2022 - $27,238,359
2023 - $28,680,416
2024 - $45,405,057
Current Contracts
Jerry Jeudy
2025 - $16,000,000 (fully guaranteed)
2026 - $13,487,000 ($6m guaranteed)
2027 - $17,000,000 (no guarantees)
Cedric Tillman
2025 - $1,260,042 (no guarantees)
2026 - $1,515,063 (no guarantees)
Jamari Thrash
2025 - $960,000 (no guarantees)
2026 - $1,075,000 (no guarantees)
2027 - $1,190,000 (no guarantees)
Michael Woods
2025 - $1,030,000 (no guarantees)
2026 - Restricted Free Agent
2027 - Unrestricted Free Agent
David Bell
2025 - $1,392,942 (no guarantees)
Kaden Davis
2025 - $840,000 (no guarantees)
2026 - Exclusive Rights Free Agent
2027 - Exclusive Rights Free Agent
2028 - Restricted Free Agent
2029 - Unrestricted Free Agent
Snap Counts
Here is a look at the snap counts for the position room so far this season:
How Many In 2025
The Cleveland Browns are likely to head into the 2025 season with six wide receivers on the final 53-man roster and two on the practice squad too.
With how Andrew Berry and smart teams operate they will want to have seven or eight roster worthy players entering training camp so that if there is an injury they have an extra bodies in the mix. At the same time there is competition so that players aren't entering training camp knowing they have their spot unless some unknown UDFA beats them out.
Here is a look at the week one roster for each year Andrew Berry has been the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns.
More Additions
Re-Signing Players
There is a chance they could still turn to Elijah Moore as he is on the market but for me they will be after more free agency talent to upgrade the starting trio.
Free Agency
There are a few names of note still on the market from Amari Cooper, Tyler Lockett, Stefon Diggs and Keenan Allen.
Personally my preferred option is Keenan Allen, here was my section from the Cleveland Browns free agency cheat sheet: He is coming off the worst year of his career, and the question comes down to if you think he can bounce back or if father time has caught up with him. He could be the perfect one-year fix for the position room if they believe Tillman is close to ready to take over, they get Allen as a player who can play over 50% of snaps in the slot. By the 2026 season, Allen can move off and Tillman can become the clear cut number two.
If they manage to convince Russell Wilson to sign then making a play at Tyler Lockett for who he already has chemistry makes a lot of sense.
The Draft
They could draft a wide receiver as high as number two in the draft with Travis Hunter. If you aren't taking a quarterback and there is no significant offer for a trade down and you value Hunter and Carter the same then taking the wide receiver over the edge makes a lot of sense because it is the second most valuable position on the field.
If Luther Burden slides out of the first round then he could be a home run pick at 33.
Wherever the Cleveland Browns end up drafting a wide receiver there is a very high chance that one is selected somewhere in the draft.
Prediction
We know Jeudy and Tillman will part of their top three wide receivers, if we had seen much more of Tillman rather than losing the end of the season to injuries I could feel better relying on him as one of the two key players. Instead I am hesitant to put all my eggs in one basket, if Jeudy gets an injury I don't have enough confident in Tillman headlining the position room week one.
I think they add someone, it could be Allen, Lockett or even a trade for Aiyuk. Talent needs to be added because it is Jeudy and upside currently and that isn't good enough. Carter seems like he will be the teams sixth wide receiver and a return specialist for the season. He is no lock and will be battling UDFAs most likely for the spot but he is deserving of a place on the 53 man roster.
Final 53
Jerry Jeudy
Free Agent/Trade
Cedric Tillman
Jamari Thrash
Draft Pick
DeAndre Carter
If they plan to draft Hunter then it is more likely to be something like:
Jerry Jeudy
Travis Hunter
Cedric Tillman
Free Agent
Jamari Thrash
DeAndre Carter