There always seems to be a team that cut an unexpected name in the preseason from their roster and the Cleveland Browns could be that team in 2020.
Last year, several teams cut very notable players that were either part of their future or were important to their present. Buffalo cut LeSean McCoy. Green Bay gave up on DeShone Kizer and cut him. The Patriots gave the ax to Brian Hoyer, only to then bring him back for 2020 and The Jaguars cut Terrelle Pryor. Heck, the Cleveland Browns cut their starting punter in Britton Colquitt, Seth Devalve, Anthony Zettel, and Braxton Miller.
It’s just a cycle that happens. Even now there are articles being written predicting which major name will be cut just prior or during training camps. It’s even more likely, though not a guarantee, that a long-time Brown gets cut in 2020 due to a new coach being brought in. Not every player on the roster has been evaluated yet. Very few of them have in fact. So there’s little doubt that someone unexpected gets cut.
Now, these players could just as easily get traded if something pops up. Just look at the Miami Dolphins from last year and see how they traded away so many good players instead of just cutting them. The possibility the Browns trade some guys exist as well.
Look at how fast they traded Corey Coleman when they were given a chance. That was a player no one in Cleveland expected there to be a trade market for. So maybe there’s a market for some of these guys at the back end of a future draft selection. Flipping a player you were gonna cut for a sixth-rounder and maybe eating a bit of salary is a heck of a way to get out from under a player you lost confidence in.
These are three names that could be potentially cut regardless
Rashard Higgins
You would think that a player as talented and beloved as Rashard Higgins would get more than just a one year, $910k contract but that’s exactly what he got. Some people will shriek “but who else do they have at receiver?!” No one knows that’s why this is unexpected. Higgins is clearly not beloved by franchise’s new management, as this is very much a “tryout” type of contract. If Higgins doesn’t impress in the preseason but another wide receiver does, then cutting Higgins won’t be hard to do at all.
Yes, Higgins and Mayfield have a rapport with one another, Higgins also has a history of angering coaches. He rarely played under Hue Jackson, and the team was starved for wide receiver help during his tenure. Then Higgins had a public spat with Freddie Kitchens that saw him all but benched for the year. He only had four receptions for 55 yards and one touchdown in 2019.
Now, personal opinions about Jackson and Kitchens aside, it’s obvious that Higgins and the fans are hanging on to his one season of productivity in 2018 as a sign of his potential. It should be noted though that his one year of productivity never resulted in one single 100-yard game. Nor did he have more than six catches in one game.
Now, with all that said he did outperform all but one other wide receiver (Jarvis Landry). As a slot and the third receiver, he outperformed starter Antonio Callaway; performing near-identical numbers with 26 fewer chances. So he clearly made the most of his chances. So why wasn’t he given more in 2018 when it was obvious that Higgins, not Callaway should be the starter? What did interim head coach Gregg Williams see? Clearly something, otherwise Higgins would’ve been utilized far more.
There are clearly question marks around Higgins. Who is he? What kind of player is he? Was 2018 a fluke? All viable questions. Higgins has a lot to prove in this year’s preseason if he expects to make the roster.
Olivier Vernon
It feels like depending on the week will determine how much hope there is for Olivier Vernon. Right now Vernon has no competition at the left defensive end spot but he might if the team goes gets Everson Griffen or Jadeveon Clowney. Now, that doesn’t mean that the team will cut Vernon even if they bring someone else in. His money is good for only this season and unless the Browns need to go get Cam Newton due to a potential injury to Baker Mayfield, there isn’t a need to get rid of Vernon’s contract. A positional change could happen for Vernon, or the team could just use him in pass-rushing downs in the interior, sorta playing him like a J.J. Watt type (only on passing downs only). It’s also entirely possible that new signing or not, head coach Kevin Stefanski could be utterly unimpressed with him and cuts him regardless of who’s at his position.
It’s not that Vernon is a one-year wonder as a Pro Bowler that concerns fans. It’s not that he’s only had one double-digit sack season. It’s the fact that he’s 30, and has three straight seasons of declining availability due to injuries.
This is a point often brought up with Odell Beckham Jr. that fans don’t want to hear but injuries sap people of their talent. The more injuries you have, the less athletic you become. The wear and tear becomes too great and eventually, you go from a 4.3 40-yard-dash to a 4.8 because that ankle just isn’t healing right. Well, that same logic applies to Vernon as well.
He played in just 12 games in 2017, 11 games in 2018, and then 10 games in 2019. There’s no way anyone would be ok with just nine games in 2020; you know, should the trend continue.
There’s always a possibility that Vernon plays 16 games, has 10+ sacks and makes everyone a believer. There’s also an even bigger possibility that Vernon gets hurt in the first practice of the pre-season and is ruled out for the year and is subsequently cut.
Drew Forbes
It very much feels like the only way Drew Forbes is on this team after the preseason is as a starter at right guard. If that’s the case, and he earns the spot, then fantastic. Best case scenario.
Fans should remember though that Forbes is a sixth-round pick of a failed regime. In fact, Forbes might not be the only member of that 2019 draft class who could be gone. Sheldrick Redwine was a fourth-round pick who now is nothing more than a special teams player. There’s next to no chance he starts over the three players at the position already and that’s assuming the Browns don’t go after a big name safety via trade at some point. Donnie Lewis is hanging on to his spot by his teeth and as he was a seventh-round pick, there’s every chance in the world that he loses his spot on the future’s list and practice squad to an undrafted player.
Mack Wilson is safe, he’ll be a starter unless he absolutely bottoms out in preseason. Same with Sione Takitaki and Greedy Williams. Yet, even an Austin Seibert isn’t safe. Decisions about kickers are notoriously fickle and one bad preseason game could be his end in Cleveland.
Of all the other names, however, Forbes is the one who could be out of a spot on the main roster. With the team bringing Jedrick Wills, Nick Harris, Alex Taylor, Jack Conklin, Willie Wright, Evan Brown, and Drake Dorbeck at various positions on the offensive line, the possibility that Forbes makes it through the preseason is slim.
He very well might, but gotta play the games and all that jazz. If you think it’s unlikely or impossible that Forbes could be cut, then you’re not paying attention to just how many new linemen the Browns have already brought in and how many more they still could.