Joe Royer

Royer has not appeared in a single game through week 5 of 2026, and the O designation has been attached to him since before week 1 of 2026. Whatever blocked him from week 1 of 2026 is still blocking him now, and every week he sits is a week trimmed off the 11 games we expected when we set our preseason number at 47 points, 4.3 a game.

Even healthy, the path was narrow. CLE spent a fifth-round pick on him this year and then made Harold Fannin Jr. the first tight end on the depth chart, with Royer listed fourth behind Fannin, Blake Whiteheart and Carsen Ryan. Fannin and Jerry Jeudy combined for 42% of CLE targets in 2025, so the pecking order at the top is set. The new staff, Todd Monken and play caller Travis Switzer, gives the offense some fresh look, but that is thin comfort for a fourth tight end.

The offense he would be joining was a slow one in 2025, 34.1 seconds a play and passes on 51% of situation-neutral plays, behind a team that won 5 games. Our middle range for him runs 29 to 64 points, and the low tail below that is the work of injury-shortened seasons, which is exactly the direction his year is drifting. His bye in week 11 of 2026 is still ahead, so even a sudden return leaves a short runway.

There is no prior season on record for him, so nothing in his history argues the case either way. We would release him ahead of week 6 of 2026. If the tight end picture in Cleveland somehow flips later in the year, he will be sitting on the wire for you.