Cleveland Browns Terminate WR Contract in Cutthroat Move

The Cleveland Browns are moving on from wide receiver Jamari Thrash, waiving the 25-year-old from injured reserve, according to reporting from Scott Petrak.

The transaction, coming in mid-September, ends Thrash’s second stint with the club and underscores how quickly roster math can change even for a young player who only recently received another chance.

Thrash arrived in Cleveland as a fifth-round selection in 2024, taken 156th overall after a productive college career that began at Georgia State and continued at Louisville.

He earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors and later second-team All-ACC recognition in his final two seasons, showing enough polish as a possession receiver to warrant a four-year rookie contract worth roughly $4.35 million, including a $325,408 signing bonus.

That deal was still in its second year when the Browns first let him go.

Cleveland brought him back this offseason as an exclusive-rights free agent, a low-cost way to keep a familiar piece on the depth chart. The reunion lasted only a short stretch of training camp.

A little more than a week after camp opened, the team waived him with an injury designation, placing him on injured reserve. Now that he has been waived from IR, Thrash becomes a free agent who can sign with any club that has room and a need for a developmental receiver.

His 2025 production was modest. Appearing in nine games, he caught 10 of 15 targets for 107 yards and no touchdowns.

Those numbers never established him as a reliable contributor in a crowded receiver room, and the Browns have evidently decided the roster spot is better used elsewhere as the regular season unfolds.

For Thrash, the next step will be proving he can stay healthy and produce in a new environment. At 25 he still has time to carve out a role as a depth wideout or special-teams contributor.

For Cleveland, the move is another reminder that draft capital and a modest contract do not guarantee a long stay. The Browns continue to reshape their skill-position group, and Thrash’s departure is one more quiet transaction in a league that rarely waits for players to find their footing.

Whether another team claims him or he signs as a free agent, the former Louisville standout will enter the remainder of 2026 looking for the kind of consistent opportunity that never fully materialized in Cleveland.

The Browns, meanwhile, move forward with one fewer name on the injury report and one more roster decision already made.