The last regime bogged down the Browns with low-character players, and overpaid for veterans that weren’t needed had the team made better decisions.
The Browns were ran disastrously over the last few years. Like a party girl on ecstasy trying to prolong the night for as long as possible, the Browns made one short-sighted move after another in their attempts to gain credibility. In doing so they turned a franchise that was a running joke into a cautionary tale. At one time being a laughing stock was acceptable, because the Browns weren’t expected to do well. Then, in one offseason (the offseason from hell) the Browns made one disastrously short-sighted move after another.
The once comical franchise was now seen as far worse than before. No longer a laughing stock by the media, a gag of recurring disappointment. No, now the team was seen as far worse; disappointments.
It’s easy to get by in life when no one expects anything from you. You have no obligations, high hopes are a myth and you get by in your day to day just being you. That’s the Browns since 2003, a team without much expectations. While fans weren’t fine with it, at least we got pitty. We got to know that the national media and fanbases around the league felt bad for us because we couldn’t even be good enough to screw up an opportunity.
Then we got that vaunted opportunity to turn the franchise around and the team did the one thing everyone begged them not to do; mess it up. The team pursued high-end talent with big cap numbers and even bigger egos. They let go talent that didn’t fit “their image” and brought in lesser talented players for higher prices. They made moves that were nothing more than course recorrections, moves that didn’t need to happen had they just stood pat with what they had.
What did it gain? An even worse legacy, filled with abusers, addicts, divas, and acts of violence that have no business being on the football field.
To rehab the image of this once great franchise, the team needs to stop listening to every frat guy and dude-bro who says “this is a violent game and it’s not for little kids!” The front office needs to go “talent be damned, chemistry is more important” and launch every problematic player out of Cleveland. That’s the point of this list. Identifying players who have no business being on this team for one reason or another.
Dishonorable Mention – DE Myles Garrett
Myles Garrett deserves a chance to change his reputation. Just not much of a chance. Firstly, hitting someone with a hard, plastic, fortified object is assault with a deadly weapon. This is not an argument you’ll win, don’t try. Secondly, calling someone a name (whether it did or didn’t happen) does not justify trying to maim someone. Thirdly, his dishonorable mention slot was earned well before the helmet was ever chucked at a Steelers players’ head.
Before Garrett went full-on Texas Chainsaw on Mason Rudolph, Garrett had a reputation in the league of being a dirty player. From slapping players in the face to unnecessary roughness calls, Garrett earned each and every penalty assigned to him in 2019. Then there was the helmet assault, and then the baseless accusation against Rudolph, something every Steeler near Garrett disputed. It all makes Garrett look like a man who can’t take responsibility for his actions and thinks it’s ok to escalate things instead of walking away.
Is that the man he is? It’s hard to say, though I’d give him the benefit of the doubt. His transgressions, even with the helmet assault, don’t even begin to rival Bill Romanowski, Albert Haynesworth or Ndamukong Suh for levels of dirty play. Garrett is only 24, he’s no kid as some like to claim, but he is still young and dumb enough to not understand the severity of his actions. Maybe he’s getting an unfair pass here, maybe he deserves to cut or traded like some of the others on this list.
It’s all unclear right now. The best determining factor for future actions is past actions though, and Garrett could easily be the person we think he is today. I believe in second chances however. Garrett needs to earn this new lease on his career in 2020 and play perfectly. No more personal fouls, shed the reputation of being a dirty player and for the love of all that’s good and holy, walk away from fights.
#10 – S Damarious Randall
Damaraious Randal has done nothing wrong as a person. Randall seems to be a good guy, with a good work ethic and a sense of right and wrong. He is, however, a reminder of the futility of the last regime. Randall came in and was supposed to help Jabrill Peppers blossom by being a mentor for him of sorts, who could also help him shore up a weak pass defense.
Randall did not do either thing. Peppers was traded to the New York Giants and Randal seemingly forgot how to be a top guy, which shouldn’t be surprising. Randall was a first-round pick to Green Bay in 2015 and trade bait at 25. Why would a team let a player under 26 leave who’s supposed to be a starter? Either they’re the Cleveland Browns and are incompetent, or the team knows the player isn’t that good.
Randall showed little in the way of playmaking abilities and while yes, he often had to help cover up for Greedy Williams, the facts are that Randall never lived up to the deal he was involved in and it wasn’t much in the way of expectations, to begin with. Now that the Browns have people in place at the top who seem to have a clue to what they want, a guy like Randall should not be brought back. Seeing him is a reminder of a team that made short-sighted moves for the sake of maximizing a second-year quarterback. If Baker Mayfield was 37, sure, go all in and try to win. He’s not. He’s not even 27 yet.
The team needs to move on from players who represent the past era, it’s the only way to fully cleanse the image. At least we can always thank Randall for helping rid us of Deshone Kizer.
#9 – DT Sheldon Richardson
Sheldon Richardson is part of the early trend of guys who simply are either overpaid, not very good, a reminder of a poorly ran organization or all three. For Richardson, it’s all three. The defensive front four were bullied all last year and especially so after Myles Garrett got sick with a suspension. Richardson wasn’t even the primary pash rusher inside, Larry Ogunjobi was.
Ogunjobi was a force in the middle and had he had more help from Richardson and the other ends, maybe Ogunjob’s numbers would’ve been even better. Richardson was often tackling guys three or four yards past the line of scrimmage and was wholly unable to get penetration when it mattered. The linebackers behind him couldn’t do their job effectively because Richardson couldn’t do his.
It’s the domino rally of suck.
Richardson was brought in to replace Danny Shelton and all they got for Shelton was a third-round pick that would be sent to New York in those awful trades. Shelton, while not a playmaker, was a less expensive and younger two-gap run stuffer. Richardson costs about $14 million against the cap this year. A price tag for a player who only ever had one good year nearly a decade ago.
The front seven still needs help, be it as a 4-3 unit or a 3-4 unit, but if you can somehow move on from Richardson and free up that money, that would help the Browns actually build a strong unit and move away from the previous regime and their terrible decision-making skills.
#8 – OT Chris Hubbard
It’s entirely possible that Chris Hubbard needs a better guard next to him in order to live up to his lofty five years, $36.5 million dollar deal he got in 2018. It’s also very likely that John Dorsey was high on bath salts, saw a perpetual backup in Pittsburgh not get signed to a new deal and though “YEAH LET’S GO GET HIM!” as he nonchalantly wiped his nose clean. Hail Dorsey.
Here’s a rule of thumb for all free agents in just about all sports. If they’re a free agent, it’s for a reason. They’re either too expensive, too old, or not good enough. For Hubbard, it was somehow all three. Hubbard was a spot-starter in Pittsburgh and parlayed some good outings into a massive deal that will clog up the cap for the next three years. There is an out for this year, that will only ping the Browns for a few million for this off-season, and they should consider it.
Hubbard has been nothing but a disappointment since arriving in Cleveland. Though that’s a bit rude because Hubbard was signed after being a perpetual backup and has played like a man who should be a backup. So maybe he’s not a disappointment after all…
The Browns have huge holes on their line and someone like Hubbard is going to be a problem to try to fit into the starting rotation. If he were on a cheaper deal, keep him. He’s a fine back-up who can fill in as needed in a pinch but as an every-down, full-season starter? That’s not his jam.
#7 – WR Rashard Higgins
Surgeries, injuries and for some reason just not having enough of the coaching staff’s respect or trust to play, pick a reason and that’s why Rashard Higgins shouldn’t be re-signed. A flash in the pan for 2018 , where he caught enough passes to take him over the 500-yard mark, many people saw him as the slot receiver to end all slot receivers. Yet, he disappeared. Playing in only a handful of games before being deactivated for the season finale.
Made worse by his dour year statistically came the allusion by then-head-coach Freddie Kitchens that the reason Higgins wasn’t playing was due to problems with Higgins inside the locker room. Speaking to Nate Ulrich and Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal, Kitchens told them;
"Everything we’re looking for. He knows. We know."
This sounds like Higgins was kept off the field due to a lack of effort. With him set to enter free agency this year, why would you want to bring back a player that was this disruptive? Before everyone goes to the “Kitchens was a bad coach” defense, remember this; you can only control how you react to a situation, not how a situation reacts to you. If Higgins wasn’t a malcontent, then he wouldn’t have been deactivated.
He may have not played much regardless, but at least he wouldn’t be seen as having attitude issues. Just because your boss might be bad at his job, or even mean to you, does not give you the right to act like a fool. Only children think that way.
#6 – OG Wyatt Teller
A lot of guys on the first half of this list seem like good guys. They just represent a bad era in Browns management and the team needs to move on and get past that. Wyatt Teller is an example of that. Acquired for a fifth and sixth-round pick in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft, the Browns got Teller from the Bills for Teller and a seventh-round pick in 2021. Teller played poorly last year, and showed the team exactly why he was a fifth-round pick himself.
Teller’s trade cost the Browns precious draft picks that could’ve been used to select a possible-late sleeper or be used in trades to further improve the team. None of this is Teller’s fault, but as of right now Teller has no trade value, he won’t be a starter next season if the Browns new management can actually improve his spot and every time he takes the field fans are just going to sigh at what could have been.
After all, Teller was acquired right before the start of the season because the Browns still didn’t have a replacement for Kevin Zeitler, who was shipped off six months prior. Teller was a last, desperate option for a team needing a starter and Teller filled in for the team where he started nine games. He meant well. He just didn’t’ do well. He replaced Eric Kush as a starter in Denver and while the run game didn’t miss a beat the pass protection still stunk. It’s not entirely his fault but his roster spot could be better utilized unless the team really likes him as a backup.
#5 – DE/OLB Olivier Vernon
The trades with New York will go down as some of the biggest blunders in recent Browns history and depending on what happens with Odell Beckham Jr. could be the absolute worst moves in franchise history. Olivier Vernon is the key cog in these two trades that so far make a lot of fans have buyers’ remorse.
Vernon was never a huge force in the pass-rushing game, arguably just good enough to be considered a pass rusher, but never truly great. He’s a smaller and slightly quicker version of Jadeveon Clowney at his peak. A guy who’ll probably never top double digits but across from a better option (in Clowney’s case, J.J. Watt) could be a great compliment. In baseball terms, he’s a number two starting pitcher, a slot wide receiver on the offense end or a great off the ball scorer in basketball.
That’s at his peak. Vernon was not at his peak in 2019. In fact, Vernon’s been living off his 2013 season where he had 11 sacks. He’s been injured, unproductive at times and highly overpaid. The good news is that he’s in the last year of his deal, meaning he’s an option to be traded to a team not looking at eating a big cap hit on a specific player with a lot of years left. Vernon could stick around and play out his contract but the odds are that he’ll be relegated to the bench if the Browns can acquire a player or two on defense who can pass rush.
Finding a way to get rid of his $15 million against the cap without eating any of it would be impressive, but that seems more like a pipe dream than anything.
#4 – TE David Njoku
David Njoku has a lot of fans still in Cleveland, not sure why, but the ill-tempered, underachieving tight end has apparently lost the faith of his starting quarterback. If your gunslinger isn’t willing to throw you the ball because he thinks you can’t make plays, then that’s enough of a reason to not be worked into the weekly game plans.
Njoku might have some value as a trade asset and if so, the Browns need to pounce on this while they can. Anything above a 4th round pick would be a steal for a player with serious issues with following instructions. Players like Njoku and Higgins have no place on the team if they’re going to be headaches and do their own thing. Teams only work when players follow the gameplan. Guys like Njoku and Higgins have already shown that they don’t respect team leaders. Regardless of your feelings on Freddie Kitchens, players are expected to do their job as instructed. It doesn’t matter if the man is Kitchens or Bill Belichick. If you can’t be expected to be a professional at all times, not just when it’s easy, then you have no business being apart of the Browns future.
That’s the issue with Njoku, beyond the lack of steady production. When the team needed a third option to catch passes, Njoku was seen as such a disruption that the team opted to not activate him instead of using him. That’s a clear sign that Njoku’s behavior is beyond unacceptable. There’s no room for insubordination when you’re trying to rehab your team’s public image.
#3 – OT Greg Robinson
When you’re a former second overall pick and you’re a free agent at 26, looking for his third team, that says all one needs to know about your abilities. Greg Robinson had no business being a starter on this team. Especially when you realize that the Browns actually cut him once before in 2019 before realizing they let all their best linemen go (besides Joel Bitonio) and quickly re-signed him. Sure the move was probably to save money but still.
Robinson was barely able to stay on the field during his 2019 campaign, and while the idea behind his acquisition was about maximizing his potential, the fact is he has never lived up to those expectations of a second overall pick.
Finding a replacement may not be hard, but the team may have to “reach” for a player in the draft, or over-pay a free agent to get them into Cleveland. Despite shifting front offices, and different agendas, the Browns haven’t been known as a team with a bad o-line since about 2001. Sure, Joe Thomas was part of that reason but this franchise isn’t for having this problem of an offensive line. It’s time to put some serious effort into fixing the unit.
He’s also shown to be unstable at times, getting ejected from a game in 2019 for kicking a player in the face. Against the Titans, Robinson up-kicked a falling Titans player right in the face. That alone is reason enough to cut him.
It’s unclear if Robinson will even make the roster in 2020, or if he’ll be allowed to walk. It’s also unclear if Robinson has any value as a backup in a system he’s unfamiliar with, on top of his expectation of getting ample playing time. His lack of play, plus his dirty tactics are more than enough reason to let make sure he’s not a Brown in 2020.
#2 – RB Kareem Hunt
This one is obvious but he’s not in the top slot for a reason; it’s because he’s obvious. There’s a good number of people that thought Kareem Hunt shouldn’t have been signed in the first place. He shouldn’t have, let’s be clear. Hunt had no business being acquired by the Browns. He clearly has issues that don’t need to be exacerbated by a pro sports lifestyle.
Hunt already assaulted a woman, literally kicking her when she was down. Then he was involved in two substance-related incidents with the police, where he was in an argument with a friend outside of a bar and then again in the now infamous traffic stop. Fans keep making excuses for a singular incident but one’s life is not meassured in parts, but by its whole. Hunt has a history of making bad decisions. There’s no reason to think that’s going to change anytime soon. The only thing you can do change your perception is to actually change. Hunt hasn’t. He’s still drinking, he’s still doing drugs, he’s still making poor decisions.
Hunt isn’t going to change because he has no reason to. He’s still actively sabotaging himself. He needs to get clean, get sober and cut people from his life that allows him to act a fool. It’s not a matter of if Hunt will have another legal issue, simply a matter of when. If he can’t stay on the straight and narrow, eventually his play will suffer. It’s bound to happen.
The NFL has too many examples of this happening to players for fans to still be blinded by this problematic string of incidnets. Hunt is an albatross around the neck of the Browns and if he’s not let go, it will only bring more embarrassment to this maligned franchise. It’s time to change the image and that means changing the type of players that the team acquires.
Everyone should root for Hunt to clean up his life, but that process has no business being done as an active player. Take time off and get your life together.
#1 – WR Odell Beckham Jr.
This one should be obvious, in part because there are already rumors that Odell Beckham Jr. doesn’t want to be in Cleveland anymore. Beckham’s time in Cleveland has already been marred by injuries, shouting matches, fines and complaints about wanting to play with a $100k watch. Not too mention assaulting a security guard at the LSU national title game.
People like Beckham are always problematic when trying to build a team’s chemistry. They’re always all about themselves. They care more about their image, their look and their style than they do about winning. Beckham brought that same showboat lifestyle from New York to Cleveland and it’s absurd to think a man nearly 30 still thinks it’s ok to wear a watch while playing a contact sport.
Beckham has been nothing but a headache and on a team filled with problematic personalities, the team needs to go all-in with ridding themselves of talent like Beckham. There is a concern that Jarvis Landry will want out if Beckham gets traded, but that’s a risk the team should be willing to take if it means finally having an organization that doesn’t kowtow to the primadonnas of the league. This team needs to be taken seriously and it can’t when problematic players are allowed to be problematic.
Beckham could bounce back and have a big 2020, he could also further continue his downtrend of play. Keep in mind that Beckham hasn’t had a truly good season in three years. He’s barely broke1,000 yards twice and had a season where only played in four games because of injuries.
In 2019 he suffered more injuries, on top of all the injuries he’s been dealing with his entire career. Eventually, injuries sap ones’ athletism. Has that started to occur for Beckham? Has he hit his peak already? Is the skillset he has left justification for dealing with obvious attitude issues?
One would think not, which is why it’s time to trade the man and get what you can from him. The last few offseasons have been a disaster and have set the team way back. Hail Dorsey.