Easy and hard

Trimming the Browns' so-called final roster by 4 p.m. a week from Tuesday will be simultaneously easy and difficult. So-called final roster because it will be massaged frequently once the final 53 players are determined and remain in transitional mode throughout the season.

Unlike previous seasons, when roster cuts were spread over a four-week training-camp period, this one will be one and done under the new rules. One major whack. That means 37 of the current 90-man roster . . .  gone just like that.

So why easy and difficult? Easy because this roster is so talented and deep, an overwhelming majority have already played their way onto the roster. Difficult because decisions thus have to be made on whether to keep training-camp surprises by players the front office does not want to lose.

Also making it difficult is the league rule that requires players, unable to play due to injury problems that have sidelined them, be included on the final list before being eligible to be transferred to another status. That includes receiver Marquise Goodwin and defensive linemen Alex Wright and Isaiah Thomas.

Which means General Manager Andrew Berry probably will have to scramble and engage in roster maneuvering to open up those three spots. 

By my count, 48 starters and major contributors are locks to make the team. They include nine defensive linemen, five linebackers and eight defensive backs; nine offensive linemen, five wide receivers, three running backs, three quarterbacks, three tight ends and three specialists.

That leaves five spots left with about a dozen players living on the bubble. Most notable on that list are wide receiver Austin Watkins Jr., linebackers Jordan Kunaszyk and Mahmoud Diabate, offensive lineman Drew Forbes, receiver David Bell, defensive linemen Jordan Elliott and Tommy Togiai, safeties Ronnie Hickman Jr. and D'Anthony Bell and return specialist Jakeem Grant Sr.

Watkins and Diabate have played eye-catching football during the exhibition season and would be no-brainers in other situations. It has reached the point, though, where several other crystal-ball practitioners already have them penciled in. Same with Kunaszyk, a special teams standout.

As expected, all seven members of the Browns' college draft class are safe. General Manager Andrew Berry like to keep his selections for at least two or three seasons before dropping the hammer. Undrafted platers like Hickman and Diabate have an outside shot at swelling the rookie class this season to nine.

If nothing else, it will be interesting watching Berry, who doesn't sit still for a moment on days like this, work his magic as he sculpts his roster. That could include, among everything else, the possibility of a deal or two.