The Cleveland Browns last year had 12 undrafted players who dotted their roster. And several either started or were inserted into a starting role after a starter became injured, such as Mohamoud Diabate and Ronnie Hickman. After two preseason games for the Browns this season, two more undrafted rookies are balling out. Could they both make the final 53-man roster?
The two are LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold out of USC and [S Donovan McMillan from Pitt](/2025/4/27/24418645/video-browns-udfa-s-donovan-mcmillon-talks-his-excitement-to-join-team-importance-of-family). Both players compete at a position of need and are showing they belong on an NFL field.
The safety position was a solid group going into 2024. But Grant Delpit became injured with a concussion against the Denver Broncos, coach-on-the-field Rodney McLeod retired, Juan Thornhill was singled out for lackluster effort, and D’Anthony Bell signed with the Seattle Seahawks during the free agency period.
That is four safeties gone from Cleveland’s roster in a single swing. Two seasoned veterans were signed late in free agency, with Damontae Kazee and Rayshawn Jenkins, to fill some of the void. Both are having a decent camp so far, as their experience is showing.
McMillon (6’-2”, 203 pounds) had a fifth-round draft grade on him, but after Day 3, he remained without a team. Cleveland GM Andrew Berry reached out and signed McMillon to a deal, harping that the Browns are in need of good depth at the safety position, and that the young man would have every opportunity to compete not only for a roster spot but could eventually get meaningful defensive reps.
Coming out of high school as a four-star prospect, McMillon had 49 college offers or inquiries from all the major programs, such as Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, Oklahoma, LSU, Georgia, and Penn State, to name a few. At Florida, he contributed in 25 games, entered the portal, and began the next portion of his college career down the street from his hometown with Pitt.
In his first season, he played in all 12 games with 105 total tackles, one forced fumble, one batted pass, and one tackle for loss. He improved in his senior year. He totaled 13 games with 115 tackles with one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, eight batted passes, and a single interception. That’s 220 total tackles in his final two seasons.
Since coming to the Browns, in training camp, he has shown he is a downhill defender who is both physical and aggressive, and a player who can deliver the big hit. McMillon is a sure tackler. In coverage, he shows good instincts when sitting back in zone, with click-and-close ability and good ball tracking.
And so far, he has shown consistency. Against the Carolina Panthers in the first preseason game, McMillon had three tackles with one batted pass in just 27 snaps. In the Philadelphia Eagles contest, his stats improved with five total tackles, which was the second most on the defense. Four of these were solo tackles, which means he is comfortable in run support. He also had one batted pass.
The Browns traditionally keep either four or five safeties. Delpit and Hickman are the only locks. That leaves McMillon to fight it out with Kazee, Jenkins, and Chris Edmonds for the final three spots. Nik Needham is a player who can play both cornerback and safety, so that may become a situation as well when the final roster is formed.
Mascarenas-Arnold (5’-11”, 231 pounds) hasn’t gotten a lot of attention from the media so far. He has had a quiet camp, but has impressed the coaches. (His name is pronounced Mah-skuh-RAH-nuhs. It’s a name with Portuguese origin and is often found in Brazil.)
Anyways, he was named First Team All-Pac 12 in his junior year at Oregon State before transferring to USC last year. He finished the 2024 season with 95 total tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions, plus one fumble recovery. His mom, Toni Arnold, is a former All-American softball third baseman. Maybe that is why she named her son “Easton,” which is a bat manufacturer.
For his college career, Mascarenas-Arnold played in 50 games with 254 total tackles, seven sacks, four batted passes, one fumble recovery, five picks, and 19 tackles for loss.
In the Carolina game, he tied for second most tackles (4) with one tackle for loss. In the Eagles game, he was everywhere while he was on the field. He had the game’s most tackles (7) along with a tackle for loss. Mascarenas-Arnold had several good run stops, including the one-yard loss of RB Keilan Robinson on the first-and-goal at Cleveland’s nine-yard line with 3:18 left in the opening quarter.
He also stopped Robinson with an assist from DT Jowon Briggs in the second quarter that forced another Eagles punt. On Philly’s final drive and trying to score, Mascarenas-Arnold had back-to-back stops when he stuffed ShunDerrick Powell on the left end for a one-yard gain, then found Powell again for a short two-yard pass that went nowhere.
Berry was impressed with Mascarenas-Arnold as he signed him to a three-year deal worth $2.975 million.
Last year, the Browns kept six linebackers. Already, JOK is out for the season, Jordan Hicks retired, and it is possible Devin Bush will be suspended for the first six games. Currently, the LB room consists of Mascarenas-Arnold, Bookie Watson, Winston Reid, Diabate, Bush, veteran Jerome Baker, Titus Leo, and second-rounder Carson Schwesinger. If Bush has to sit out for a few games, that means only LB won’t continue forward on the active roster.
The same will occur with the safety room. If Cleveland keeps five, that means just one will be released.
So, both McMillon and Mascarenas-Arnold have a great opportunity to secure a roster spot if they continue to impress in camp and in the final preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams next weekend. We’re not talking about two athletes who will start Week 1, or even this year. But quality depth is what the great teams have. When one starter goes down, the next man up is then ready to contribute. Not to mention two more sure tacklers for special teams.
Speaking of one safety and one linebacker, both Diabate and Hickman went undrafted. They did the work, learned the system, and now, both will most likely start for this defense.
Perhaps this is the next duo when their time is due.
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