Less than 24 hours after the Patriots released Cole Strange, the 2022 first-round draft pick has already signed with the Cleveland Browns and is expected to join their practice squad to start the season.
During his first two years in New England, Strange was a Day 1 starter, starting in 27 games before a knee injury at the end of the 2023 season sidelined him for a large part of the following year.
Strange suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee during a Week 15 game against the Kansas City Chiefs that year. It required surgery and a long recovery that resulted in him relearning how to walk and stand on his own strength, as he expressed in a media session during OTAs this summer.
The Browns are also expected to sign former 1st round OL Cole Strange to their practice squad, per @caplannfl. https://t.co/9uiyGqskVl pic.twitter.com/TDUkWPudfO
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) August 27, 2025
He returned at the end of last season for the final three games, where he started at center for the first time in his career. After starting every game during his rookie year, Strange would go on to play in 30 total games with 29 starts for the Patriots over the last three years.
The Patriots and former head coach and general manager Bill Belichick were criticized for drafting Strange in the first round, but he had one of the top Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) in the last 35 years at 9.95, ranking seventh out of 1,289 offensive guards from 1987 and the No. 1 overall for an interior offensive lineman.
Strange signed a four-year, fully guaranteed $12.25 million contract after he was drafted in 2022. Over the offseason, however, the Patriots chose not to pick up the fifth-year option on his deal, making him a free agent in 2026. There is a $3,909,707 cap hit for the Patriots to eat, according to Spotrac.
It’s fair to say that head coach Mike Vrabel gave Strange plenty of opportunities to prove himself as a worthy player along the offensive line. During the offseason and preseason, Strange worked with the starters at multiple positions and saw a lot of run as a potential starter. But it might’ve been a lack of versatility that became the deciding factor for Vrabel.
Strange will look to reestablish himself in Cleveland by working his way up the depth chart from the practice squad. He joins an up-and-coming team with talent spread throughout the roster and certain parts of the offensive line that are aging. He’ll be playing for one of the top coaches in the league with Kevin Stefanski, who is a two-time NFL Coach of the Year recipient.
Taking a glance at the Browns’ roster, there isn’t much depth to the guard position. So if Strange has a solid showing on the practice squad, he could be promoted to the active 53-man roster sooner than later.