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Cleveland Browns veteran Cedric Tillman is facing the chopping block heading into training camp.
Cedric Tillman is entering a contract year with the Cleveland Browns, but his path to a roster spot looks far less secure than it did a few months ago.
The Browns used high draft picks on KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, adding two young receivers to a room that already included Jerry Jeudy, Isaiah Bond and Tillman. Concepcion gives Cleveland an explosive option who can create after the catch. Boston brings size and contested-catch ability on the outside. That could leave Tillman squeezed heading into training camp.
“It looks to me like perhaps the writing could be on the wall for Ced Tillman right now with the drafting of KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston,” Mary Kay Cabot said on the Orange and Brown Talk podcast. “He has a similar body type to Denzel Boston. They’re the contested catch guys that you got to go down there and you got to squeeze yourself in between two defenders and grab that football. And Denzel is really, really good at that. So he’s moved ahead of Ced Tillman for that job.”
Tillman has the size the Browns have valued on the outside, but Boston’s arrival creates a redundancy. If Boston has already moved ahead of him in the eyes of the team, Tillman could find himself battling for one of the final receiver spots once camp opens.
Tillman arrived in Cleveland as a third-round pick in 2023, giving the Browns a 6-foot-3 target with the frame to win through contact and make plays along the boundary. The flashes have been there but the consistency has not.
Tillman caught 21 passes for 224 yards as a rookie. He followed that with 29 catches for 339 yards and three touchdowns in 2024, showing some signs of life after the Browns traded Amari Cooper. But a concussion interrupted that stretch and ended his season.
Tillman finished last season with 21 catches for 270 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games. A hamstring injury sent him to injured reserve early in the year, and he never fully established himself as a reliable week-to-week part of the offense.
Through three seasons, Tillman has 71 catches for 833 yards and five touchdowns.
The Browns have spent several years searching for more reliable offensive answers, so having too many receivers worth evaluating is not exactly a bad problem. Co-host Dan Labbe pointed to that part of the equation when discussing Tillman’s uncertain standing.
“In a weird way, this is what you want when you’re building a roster, is you want to have to make hard decisions,” Labbe said. “And it’s not always fun. I mean, that’s why Andrew Berry and all these guys make a lot of money.”
The Browns needed to create competition at receiver after another rough offensive season. Cleveland averaged just 16.4 points per game in 2025, ranking 31st in the NFL. The passing game produced only 16 touchdowns against 18 interceptions, while Browns quarterbacks were sacked 51 times.
Harold Fannin Jr. led the team in receptions and receiving yards as a rookie tight end. Jeudy remains the veteran in the receiver room, but the Browns needed more speed, youth and upside around him.
Much will also depend on the quarterback situation. Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders are expected to carry the main competition into training camp, with Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green also in the room. Until Cleveland settles that battle, every receiver will be working to build chemistry and prove he can be trusted in Todd Monken’s new-look offense.
J.R. DeGroote Browns beat writer for Heavy.com. Covering the NFL and NBA since 2019. ASU Cronkite grad. More about J.R. DeGroote
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