Browns: 5 current players who shouldn’t be back in 2021
By Chad Porto
The Cleveland Browns will have many major decisions to make in the upcoming 2021 offseason, but these five players should not be brought back.
The Cleveland Browns are currently at 5-3 and on their way (hopefully) to the playoffs. That doesn’t mean this team has been perfect, in fact far from it. The team has had many players fail to pan out so far and a few who maybe shouldn’t have been signed in the first place. To rectify this, the Browns are going to need to let go of a few people in order to improve their team in 2021.
With a cap that may be reduced between this season and next, the need to improve the defense and worry over being able to sign guys like Nick Chubb, Baker Mayfield, and Wyatt Teller to contract extensions, some of the guys on this list might just be on here for monetary reasons. Others are on here because they’ve just sucked. Maybe a player or two is here for both reasons.
Either way, the Browns would be wise to move on from them.
These are five players who shouldn’t be back in 2021.
Karl Joseph
It’s safe to say that Joseph was a mistake. Instead of re-signing Damarious Randall, Andrew Berry, in his infinite wisdom, thought “hey, the Raiders – one of the worst defenses in the league- didn’t want Joseph, we should totally get him!” Yeah, that was a mistake. The worst defensive player the team has, Joseph got benched after four games and proved that even though he was signed to a paltry deal, it was still way too much for him.
Savings: $2.4 million
Sheldon Richardson
The Browns can finally get out of one of the worst contracts in recent memory after the start of the 2021 offseason. Richardson will only count $1.66 million against the cap if the team cuts him before June 1 and will save the Browns $12 million. Considering the only games Richardson has played well in were against teams with bad offensive lines (Bengals, Washington), there’s no excuse anymore to carry him on the roster. No one’s going to want to trade for him, and it’s fair to say that he’s largely seen as a bust after being a top 15 of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Savings: $12 million
B.J. Goodson
Can’t cover, can’t read offenses, can’t tackle. What did he do, go to Kent State? That’s a joke that some of you may get, but don’t get it twisted, the only joke here is that anyone thought B.J. Goodson could replace Joe Schobert. People howled in the offseason that Schobert was “overrated” or that he was a “bad tackler” or “not worth the money”, until he left and the mediocre Browns defense of 2019 was replaced by a somehow worse defense in 2020. Goodson couldn’t replace Schobert’s productivity and thanks to yet another bad year of stopping the run, fans have seen that yes, it was the defensive line’s fault for those big runs. Not Schobert’s.
Savings $2.4 million
Olivier Vernon
He’s an upgrade over Jadeveon Clowney, sure, but then again a Christmas tree from 2018 is an upgrade over Clowney at this point. Olivier Vernon has failed to do anything memorable except having two sacks against Oakland. Even more hilarious, Vernon’s two sacks were overshadowed by his quitting mid-play on more than one occasion in the same game. Vernon’s re-signing was a joke.
Savings: $11 million
Odell Beckham Jr.
It’s time to stop with the “this is the year Odell Beckham bounces back!” talk. It’s been four, going on five years since Beckham was an elite player. He’s had ONE season where he’s started every game. He’s had a history of injuries, he’s a malcontent in the locker room, he’s always making headlines for the wrong reasons and the team literally played better without him. Not just in Week 7 against Cincinnati, but in all of 2018. He’s not needed, he’s a huge burden financially and he’s just going to get hurt again. Trading him saves you nearly $16 million. Anything you can get back for him at this point is worth the cap-space.
Savings $15.75 million.
Next. Cleveland Browns: Ranking the 20 best former players since 1999. dark