With a new coach and front office, there will be some talent who no longer fits on the roster. These are the five most likely to be cut or traded.
The Cleveland Browns will be looking to move forward into the 2020 season. With a new head coach, a new front office set to be installed and Paul DePodesta’s influence, the team will have a slightly different look. Part of the reason Kevin Stefanski was hired was due to the rumored desire of his to keep the team mostly intact.
Everyone’s favorite candidate Josh McDaniels wanted “sweeping changes” and that simply isn’t necessary. The team will need to take on a bit of a new look though, as there are plenty of holes that need to be filled. There’s plenty of guys that are on the bubble but the ones that are truly in danger are the guys with the big contracts. Someone like Wyatt Teller doesn’t even make seven figures, retaining him isn’t a hard thing to do. You just need to make sure you have someone who can start ahead of him because, well, he’s not the best.
The names most likely to be cut or traded are the bloated salaries of the injury-prone or under-producing players. Someone like Joe Schobert might be on the block, but considering the names ahead of him, there are far more problematic areas that need to be addressed. Schobert produces, he just might price himself out of a job. The five names to really look out for are the ones who can’t stay on the field, cause problems or simply aren’t worth their salary anymore.
These five should be obvious, but if there are other names that fans might have, and they might be valid too. This roster has a lot of bloated waste on it, and it’s time to cut the fat.
Kareem Hunt
The former 1,000-yard rusher for the Kansas City Chiefs was famously cut from the team after a video of him getting into a fight at a Cleveland hotel went viral. Kareem Hunt told the Chiefs that the incident never happened, but then the video contradicted his claims. He was subsequently released and his former team moved on without him.
The man who drafted him, John Dorsey, was fired from his job with the Chiefs just weeks after Hunt was drafted. So when Hunt was subsequently released by the Chiefs for his action and lies, the man who wanted him in Kansas City finally got his chance to watch Hunt spin for the team he ran; The Cleveland Browns.
Hunt was brought into the fold in February and was suspended for the first half of the season. He debuted in week 10 of the season and didn’t really make much of a dent stat-wise. With Nick Chubb establishing himself as a top-3 running back in the league (arguably the best), Hunt won’t be as useful for the team going forward as others could.
He was only signed to a one year deal, so it’s entirely likely that Hunt will want more than his $645,000 that he earned with the Browns in 2019. The team would be better off finding a combo back who can catch passes and get space, while also not having any baggage.
The other big issue with retaining Hunt is Stefanski’s use of a fullback in the past. As much as the announcers tried to put over the two-headed beast, neither man is a fullback who can be a lead blocker. So one must be acquired to fill that role.
Couple the baggage, with a better talent ahead of him, a poultry salary that he’ll more than likely want to improve on and a new front office, Hunt could be gone. A culture change is needed, and someone like Hunt may need to go in order to make way for better opportunities.
David Njoku
The former first-round pick has yet to live up to his lofty potential, and doubts about him ever achieving said heights exist. Njoku is also the only player that former head coach Freddie Kitchens actually had issues with. David Njoku was plagued by injuries in 2019, then was deactivated by Freddie Kitchens when he finally healed.
Not Odell Beckham Jr. and his jewelry or even Myles Garrett trying to maim a man (though he was suspended by the league). No, it was Njoku and his attitude that prompted someone be deactivated. The culture needs changing. When talent is inactive due to interpersonal squabbles, it’s hard to argue against getting rid of them. Especially when the head coach had no ability to control anyone else on the team or instill discipline.
It’s not just that Njoku was inactive, but pile on the injuries and his lackluster performance in two of his three seasons and it’s not really a stretch to see why Njoku made the list. There are plenty of tight ends in the draft that can be had. The second round of the 2020 draft could be chock-filled with potential names. The Browns have a history of scouting and acquiring talented tight ends that weren’t first-rounders and watching them bloom to Pro Bowlers.
Since returning to the league in 1999, the Browns have three tight ends that reached the Pro Bowl, none of them went twice, and only one (Kellen Winslow Jr) was a first-rounder. The other two, Jordan Cameron and Gary Barnidge, were fourth and fifth-round picks respectively. While yes, the men that scouted those players are gone, the point is that the franchise has found high caliber talent in the past and can again. It should be noted that Barnidge was drafted by Carolina, but there are still talent scouts used in evaluating free agents.
Maybe it’s not fair to toss Njoku out with the Dorsey-bathwater, but Baker Mayfield needs a tight end that he can rely on, and so far for one reason or another, that’s not been Njoku. At least not in Cleveland.
Odell Beckham Jr.
Ok, hang on. Put down the pitchforks and listen to why Odell Beckham is in trouble. Firstly, Beckham is declining. People can blame Kitchens all they want, but he got more passes thrown to him, caught three fewer passes and played more games than his 2018 campaign. Yet he put up poorer numbers in more opportunities than he did in New York. Is it the system? Baker Mayfield? The fact that Jarvis Landry was the Kirby of wide receivers in 2019? Who knows.
Secondly, Beckham is an athletic receiver. Which is fine, but that athleticism fades. It fades even faster when you’re injury-plagued, which Beckham has become. He’s had issues with his ankles, hip issues, hamstring tears and now a sports hernia. These injuries are taking their toll on Beckham. He’s so oft-injured, there’s actually a mathematical algorithm that predicts Beckham will have over a 50% likely hood of being injured during the 2020 season.
If the injuries and declining play weren’t bad enough, he’s a headache to deal with. From the temper tantrums on the sideline to trying to play games with pieces of large jewelry adorning his body, to apparent videos of him doing potentially illicit things with random women; Beckham has become a headache.
Changing the culture has to happen and the only way it can happen is if you lop off the head of the biggest offender, even if it means getting rid of one of the better talents on the roster. Beckham is always running his mouth, bringing negative attention to the product and simply refusing to behave. It’s not hard to not be a dingus, but Beckham refuses to grow up and act like an adult.
The move may upset Jarvis Landry, or worse yet, it may not be possible to replace him at all. Though I’d hazard to guess that a barely, 1,000-yard receiver wouldn’t be all that hard to replace in regards to production.
Olivier Vernon
What were the Browns thinking…
Somehow both of the major trades that Cleveland made with the New York Giants ended up being disastrous. The Browns gave up a first and third-round draft pick, their second-best lineman and their second-best defensive back. All to get an injury-plagued diva in Beckham, and a do-nothing injury-prone Olivier Vernon.
Vernon has missed 15 games over the last three years. The writing was on the wall when he couldn’t finish a full year in New York. Yet, still, the Browns traded for him. He’s not just injury-prone, he had a career of underachieving before he got shipped to Cleveland. While he was able to get some penetration at times, his lack of ability to generate actual sacks is noticeable. Especially for someone getting paid over $15 million a year.
When former Browns defensive end Carl Nassib is making $13 million less than Vernon and has near-identical stats, the case for keeping an oft-injured, underperforming, over-paid player simply has no merit. Add on that every time he takes a snap in a Browns uniform there will always remain the fact we destroyed our offensive line for him. That kind of stink doesn’t wash off. Sure, it’s always possible he bounces back or even shifts positions and becomes useful, but there are upgrades available this year. His bloated salary could help get the team some extra cap space in order to pursue someone like a Jadeveon Clowney.
If he were to restructure his contract, there’s still value there. He could shore up an outside linebacker spot potentially. Not an ideal 4-3 fit, but if a better one can’t be found, then you gotta make do with what you got. That said, it’s entirely possible that regardless of options, Vernon will be let go. The injuries are stacking up, 15 missed games in three years, and the number has increased over the course of all three. There’s little doubt that Vernon will be injured again if the last three years are anything to consider.
Christian Kirksey
This one hurts. If Christian Kirksey is healthy, then he and Joe Schobert could shore up the middle of the defense on their own. They’re both tackling machines, and able to cover the flats on pass plays. Neither are great at pass-rushing or at least have never been given the opportunity, so that’s a knock against keeping both. Yet, if Myles Garrett is allowed back, and the Browns improve the opposite side of the line, the hope is that you won’t need to do any blitzing.
Kirksey is heading into his last year on the four-year deal he signed in 2017, and at only $7 million, he’s not the most likely of candidates to get let go. He could be on the chopping block if a surprise name gets released by another team. If Cleveland wants to make room under the cap to go get that potential player, then Kirksey could be sacrificed to save a few bucks. Right now, there aren’t any real linebackers on the free agent wire that stir confidence that they could be as good, if not better than Kirksey.
The issue wit Kirksey isn’t about talent. He’s phenomenal. It’s the fact he can’t stay healthy. He’s only played 28% of games in two years. Who’s to say that after two straight years finishing out on the IR, that he’s even the same athlete anymore. Does he still have the same quickness and the same durability? Was this a freak string of injuries, or a sign that his body can’t handle the day in and day out rigors of pro football?
Kirksey is one of the few talents on this list that deserves to be retained. He’s not a trouble maker, he’s a solid to potential Pro-Bowl caliber player and combined with Denzel Ward, Schobert and Garrett, he could really give the Browns a strong top-five defense. At the end of the day, if you can’t stay on the field, you can’t help the team. If that’s the case, it’s time to open up the roster spot so that someone who’s healthy can be available if needed.