This Under The Radar Cleveland Browns Playmaker Is Turning Heads

Cleveland Browns tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden has looked pretty impressive over the team's first two preseason games.

Aug 17, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden (83) runs the ball and slips a tackle by Minnesota Vikings safety Jay Ward (20) during the third quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports / Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns fell to 0-2 in the preseason with their loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, but their record doesn't really matter.

What's pertinent is the progress, particularly of young players fighting for playing time (or roster spots).

One Browns playmaker in particular had a very strong day against the Vikings and is making a pretty big statement heading into the regular season: tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden.

Mitchell-Paden caught four passes for 59 yards in Cleveland's exhibition affair, marking the second straight week he made his presence known. In the Browns' preseason opener, he logged three catches for 20 yards.

Cleveland's tight end depth behind David Njoku is shaky, at best. Jordan Akins is currently the favorite to win the No. 2 job, but Mitchell-Paden is stating his case.

The 24-year-old was an undrafted free agent signing out of Florida Atlantic in 2022 and has spent most of the first two years of his NFL career on the Browns' practice squad.

But there is no doubting that Mitchell-Paden has talent.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound pass-catcher began his collegiate career at Notre Dame in 2017 and spent four seasons with the Fighting Irish, with his best campaign coming in 2019 when he hauled in 53 receptions for 573 yards and six touchdowns. He then transferred to Florida Atlantic and had a very limited role in 2021.

Mitchell-Paden isn't a freakish athlete, possessing only decent speed, but he has solid hands and isn't a bad route runner (although he can definitely stand to improve in that area).

Again, Njoku is clearly Cleveland's No. 1 tight end. No one is confusing Mitchell-Paden for an elite weapon. Not yet, anyway. This is merely about him making the 53-man roster and potentially carving out a niche in the Browns' offense.

Thus far, Mitchell-Paden has displayed that he does, in fact, belong, and that he may ultimately end up supplanting Akins as Cleveland's secondary tight end at some point in 2024.