Cleveland Browns: Does former TE Gary Barnidge wants to play for a rival?

Former Cleveland Browns tight end Gary Barnidge’s recent statements likely won’t be received well by fans of his former employer.

Shortly after the Cleveland Browns drafted tight end David Njoku, Cleveland moved on from Gary Barnidge. The move was to a degree surprising, but with a lot of support in backup Seth DeValve, the combination of Njoku/DeValve is the team’s future.

Now, Barnidge could have been part of the offense moving forward, especially with DeValve being able to line up in multiple spots. However, Cleveland’s young rebuilding roster forced their hand.

Barnidge has yet to sign on elsewhere, but he should be on a roster in the coming months.

According to The Baltimore Sun‘s Callie Caplan, Barnidge was on Glenn Clark Radio where he discussed one of the Browns’ rivals, the Baltimore Ravens’ lack of interest in him.

"I just know we haven’t heard anything yet, which is fine. I’m staying in shape. I’ll be ready when that call comes, so I’m in no rush right now."

Despite that, could Barnidge’s lack of offers be why he added the following statement?

"In the last two years with eight different quarterbacks, I was able to still put up really good numbers. I was still one of the top tight ends in the NFL over a two-year period … I don’t think there’s any other guy that can say they’ve done that."

Perhaps, but I doubt it. He talked up his qualifications like any of us would declaring true statements.

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It is not like every Browns tight end who has played with inconsistent and poor quarterback play has put up respectable stats.

Barnidge would be a welcomed addition to any TE-needy team, including the Ravens given their injury-riddled position there… as much as I would hate to see it happen.

It would have been great to see the Browns keeping a trio of Njoku/Barnidge/DeValve, but instead we can only just imagine what could have been.

Should Baltimore agree to offer Barnidge a contract and he accepts it, he may not be hated as much as previous Browns player/coaches who later played/coached with other AFC North teams later in their careers.

There will still be Browns fans who support him (just not during those Baltimore games). With that in mind though, that resentment towards him will be felt.

Next: 2017 NFL Draft aftermath

Where do you believe Barnidge will end up? What if he were to join the Ravens — Would that change your opinion of him? He is one of the best remaining free agents left on the market and it will be interesting to see which team adds him!

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