When a blue-chip high school player is seeking a college to attend and advance his football career at the next level, he goes through all the offers. Then, the athlete makes a decision. If his childhood school did not offer him a scholarship, then he would either become a walk-on and pay his own tuition and housing instead of receiving the free ride, or he would accept a scholarship from another school.
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The bottom line is, the player decides where to go to play. The respective colleges make the ultimate decision to give him a scholarship offer or not, but they don’t decide if the athlete accepts and becomes a roster member.
At the professional football level, it is the complete opposite. Individual clubs either select athletes via the draft or sign players who are deemed free agents, which means they are not under contract with any other team or league.
This means that pro football clubs decide who plays for them.
Well, hold on a sec. That’s not exactly the truth. There are two categories of players who ultimately decide which teams to sign with: free agents and undrafted rookie free agents.
Yeah, yeah, they sound the same. Okay, they are the same. Neither category has a valid contract with an actual team. Satisfied? But there are some differences. The “free agent” usually is a veteran player who is waiting for his agent to get a call with an offer from a new club. The “undrafted rookie free agent” is a dude who just completed his college career and wasn’t selected in any round of that year’s draft. So, he has never played pro ball, and like the veterans, is waiting for his agent to get a call with an offer from any team. This is usually done right after the draft has concluded, or within days, as the selection of available players has thinned down.
The Cleveland Browns are a team that is known for signing quite a few rookie undrafted free agents, and quite a few have made the final roster and become valued roster members. This year alone, at safety, it appears that undrafted rookie free agent Ronnie Hickman will start. Look at the linebacker positions, in which this year the Browns will feature three new bodies on the field. One new starter is Mohamoud Diabate, another former undrafted rookie free agent.
On the 2024 roster were 12 players who went undrafted coming out of college.
In Cleveland’s first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, the game plan was to begin the game with the Browns’ second team offense and defense for the first half, then supplant some third and fourth slot depth chart guys as the final two quarters commenced.
Preseason games have several items. And one is to find out who to cut. Currently, there are 90 guys on the training camp roster. In Week 1, that number will be just 53 players, plus another 17 on the practice squad. That’s 20 guys that the coaching staff must get rid of, and another 17 to decide if they belong on the main roster or the practice squad.
The last thing any coach wants is to release a guy who later becomes an exceptional talent on another team. The idea is that live action in game situations will elevate some players, and reveal the weaknesses of others, thus making the decision of who to waive clearer.
Against the Panthers, all three aspects of the Browns’ roster made a really good showing. The defense played really well. There were a few players that stood out as expected, and there were others that had been buried deep on the depth chart that took this opportunity and really shone.
And none were drafted by the Browns, but were either undrafted rookies, or free agents signed away from another team and given a new chance for another club to show that they still belong.
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Here are three bubble players who gave everybody notice:
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Before this game, unless you were at practice sessions every day, you had to check your Browns roster to see who #66 was. Huntington is buried on the depth chart listed at right DT behind Mason Graham and Sam Kamara. So, third string.
Huntington (6’-1”, 281 pounds) is one of those undrafted free agent rookies. He played for Tulane and is a pandemic athlete in that he played five seasons: Kent State (2020-2022), Louisiana-Monroe (2023), and then Tulane (2024). He had 8.5 sacks in his junior year and 15.5 for his career, along with 29 tackles for loss and 138 total tackles.
He grew up in Stafford, Virginia, and in the face, he looks like he is a freshman in high school. Right now, that may not be a compliment as he is actually a grown-ass man, but as time flows and he gets into his 60s, that feature will be a huge asset.
Browns GM Andrew Berry signed 13 undrafted rookie free agents on May 9, and Huntington was one of this group.
As everyone saw against Carolina, Huntington has impressive explosiveness, which makes him an intriguing prospect. He offers good upper-body strength with violent hands. This played nicely in the sack he had in the second quarter of QB Andy Dalton. He beat LG Brandon Walton easily on a hard hand slap, then leveraged his body past him as Dalton had fallen on the turf trying to step up into the pocket.
He almost had another sack midway in the third quarter on a stunt, but Dalton got it off as Huntington was in his face.
One of the reasons Huntington might have gone under the radar is because of the journey he took playing for three different minor college programs. And he is quick. He runs a 4.64 in the 40 with an astounding vertical jump of 38 inches. He offers versatility in that, in college, he was used to coming off the edge.
He was also busy on special teams, which is unusual for such a big man to be placed on kickoff and punt teams. After the Browns scored their first touchdown, it was Huntington who made the tackle on returner Raheem Blackshear on the ensuing kickoff.
For the game, Huntington tied rookie LB Carson Schwesinger with a team-high six total tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and two QB hits. Schwesinger has arrived as a major tackling machine, and now that Huntington has matched his numbers, he will be a player the coaching staff will watch closely as the season approaches.
Coming from Tulane may have been a crutch, but Michael Strahan played for Texas Southern. Deacon Jones came from Mississippi Vocational College. Richard Dent, Claude Humphrey, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, and former Brown Anthony Pleasant all went to Tennessee State. Robert Mathis attended Alabama A&M. Remember L.C. Greenwood? Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Charles Haley played for James Madison.
CHARLOTTE, NC – AUGUST 08: Cleveland Browns defensive end Julian Okwara (53) sacks Carolina Panthers quarterback Jack Plummer (16) during a NFL preseason football game between the Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers on August 8, 2025, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Keeping along the defensive line, the game that Julian Okwara had was a sight to see. This is not some young guy whom Berry signed to fill up a training camp roster. Okwara will turn 28 this season and has been around. The Browns are his fourth NFL team. If he does not make the final roster or the practice squad, this is a guy who may be looking at playing in the UFL shortly.
But against Carolina, Okwara (6-4”, 250 pounds) put on a clinic on how to rush the passer. Known as a lean player for being on the edge, competing against much larger offensive tackles who have 50 pounds on him. Okwara uses a speed rush as his best tool, as he runs a 4.62.
Exceptionally active against the Panthers. He ended up with two sacks, two tackles, two tackles for loss, and two QB hits.
He was drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions out of Notre Dame after growing up in Nigeria and then Charlotte, North Carolina. With the Lions, he had a slew of injury issues and was not re-signed. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals and has played in 51 NFL games with just five starts.
On the Browns roster, it is his opportunity for a new start. He is a lanky edge rusher who has build-up up speed around the edge. That was his asset with his second sack of the game against the Panthers as he beat second-string OT Brady Christensen off the edge with a left shoulder dip, then hit another level of speed to get past his blocker and was all alone with the QB with 12:04 remaining before halftime.
His biggest weakness is that he plays a bit too high, which enables larger offensive tackles to get under his shoulder pads and ride him out of danger. But he does have NFL-quality range and is quite good in pursuit.
To make this Browns roster, Okwara must keep up this type of stats and be that menace in each preseason game. There is a ton of competition at defensive end, and Cleveland traditionally only keeps five. But for now, he has signaled his place on the final roster.
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This is a seasoned veteran who came to the league as an undrafted rookie. He ended up in Miami, and for six seasons, he was considered one of the best undrafted players the franchise has ever signed.
He had the misfortune of an Achilles injury that gave him issues and put him out of the starting lineup for longer than expected. Needham (5’-11”, 193 pounds) was signed right before the NFL draft on April 22. His signing allowed Berry to forego selecting a defensive back and use that pick for another position of need.
Needham will turn 29 years old during this season and has played in 63 NFL games with six interceptions, 25 pass defenses, and 200 total tackles.
His play against Carolina may have intensified why he should become either the starting rightside cornerback in place of the injured M.J. Emerson or at free safety in place of Hickman. That spot is up for grabs with the competition heating up. Cleveland does play some 4-2-5, and Needham just might become that third safety in the box.
Carolina had a very good drive going midway through the third quarter with the Browns leading 14-7. Receiver David Moore had faked out CB Troy Brown and was open as Needham was playing the shallow zone. As Dalton was looking that way, Needham immediately inched closer to Moore and then dove in front of the pass as he cradled the throw for the pick. This set up Cleveland at Carolina’s 44-yard line.
That possession ended in the Browns’ third touchdown and a 21-7 lead.
Needham is a crafty veteran who will hit anything holding a football. He has competition for the starting role with Cam Mitchell and Myles Harden, and has been used quite a bit at safety, currently listed on the depth chart behind Hickman and Damontae Kazee.