The roster trimming is already underway for the Cleveland Browns ahead of Sunday's cut-down deadline. The team already parted ways with 16 players via different designations before hitting the practice field one final time on Saturday. 

It's one final chance to head coach Todd Monken to get a look at the expanded roster before making any final decisions about the 53-man iteration of the group. Prior to taking the field, Cleveland's head man seemed to drop a few hints about where things stand with a number of players looking to make the roster and how certain areas of the roster may shake out. 

Here are a few notes that stood out from his final press conference ahead of cut-down day. 

The rookie tight end has been away from the team for personal reasons for the entirety of camp. Monken was asked whether or not he expects Royer to join the team at some point before the regular season and as he's done all camp, he balked at providing an answer, saying simply, "I’m not going to comment on that."

At this point, it's safe to assume Royer won't be on the 53. 

It sure looked like the Browns' starting o-line has been settled for a few weeks now, with veteran guard Teven Jenkins slotting in at RG. But Monken revealed that rookie OL Austin Barber has at least given them something to think about. 

"I think Teven has the advantage, obviously, as the veteran player, but we still have this week, we still have today and a few practices to really finalize," he said. "I’d give Teven the lean, but I don’t think it’s done yet."

Barber entered the league as a tackle, but the Browns have been testing him out at guard over the last few weeks and like what they've seen, apparently. It still feels like Jenkins will be the starting RG Week 1, but Barber is certainly on the roster, and may ultimately find himself starting this season. 

If there was any doubt about fullback Michael Burton being left off the 53 after missing several weeks of practice due to injury, think again. Monken liked what he saw from Burton when he returned to practice earlier in the week. 

"For a couple of practices last week, Hhe got in there a little bit and he just picked up where he left off," he explained. "I mean, a guy that’s played fullback for his whole career has gotten this far along. It was as if he never missed a day. It was really, really fun to watch."

Don't forget Monken also campaigned to have a full back on this roster earlier in the offseason, so Burton isn't going anywhere. 

With Royer's unclear future, the Browns' tight end room doesn't have much depth to boast about behind Harold Fannin Jr. It's something that Monken called a concern following the team's joint practice with the Buffalo Bills last week. He also admitted back then that there's a good chance the room looks different than it does now. 

He doubled down on that Saturday.

 “I think it’s possible. I don’t think there’s any position on your team, minus a few, that you’re not always looking to upgrade. Should a player become available, that gives you an opportunity to upgrade your roster."

That said, he also highlighted how pleased he was with Blake Whiteheart's performance throughout camp, so he appears to be safe. 

Mike Hall Jr. returned to practice after dealing with an injury early last week and it was quickly noticeable that he was getting some run at DE instead of DT. Monken was asked about Hall's role moving forward and said this: 

"I think he’s shown that he can be a versatile player. I do think he’s more disruptive inside, so I do think that. We’ve seen that on tape. I think that would probably be at this point. We still have another week to go through would be the starting point with some defensive end flex.”

Sounds like he'll primarily remain a defensive tackle, with the flexibility to move outside in a pinch, which given the state of the defensive end room right now, could be fairly often.