The Browns could end up cutting your favorite player in 2021.
The Browns are no different than any NFL team and are prone to cutting someone that may shock or befuddle you. It happens every year it feels like, someone shocking gets cut and one understands why until they sign with their new team and everything is clear as day.
Sometimes it’s just a puzzling move and the player still has something left after all. In other situations, the player gets cut for financial reasons and there are some of those guys on the Browns this year. Mostly, the guys who could get cut have younger, cheaper options behind them.
While the Browns don’t need to cut some of these guys, if they feel they have a prospect or two they’re high on, don’t be surprised if these names end up getting the ax in training camp. To be clear, this is anyone who’s not a rookie. So you’re going to see some “young veterans” listed here.
Jarvis Landry
Cutting Jarvis Landry seems unlikely at best, and a near impossibility at worst. He’s pretty valuable to the team and their identity, plus he’s not far removed from his Pro Bowl years. He could ascend to that level once again.
That said, it’s not like it’s as impossible as you may think. He’s got a bad hip, a big issue for receivers, especially ones who rely on their shiftiness and not speed to get open. He’s also one of the slowest pass-catcher the team has. We’re talking tight ends being faster than him. Not only that, but the Browns have a far less costly version of him, Rashard Higgins, sitting behind him.
Not just that but the Browns have a new shiny receiver option in rookie Anthony Schwartz. Landry doesn’t seem to have the same trade value that Odell Beckham has, so it’s possible (*NOT LIKELY, just possible*) that Landry could end up getting cut.
He’s also past the big portion of his contract, so the Browns would only need to pay him $1.5 million in 2021 and 2022 before they’re free of his contract completely. An unpopular option to save money but an option nonetheless.
Kareem Hunt
Like Jarvis Landry, Kareem Hunt isn’t the most likeliest option to get cut. With Dontrell Hilliard and Demetric Felton on the team, the Browns may want to switch gears. Hunt has been a solid back for the Browns over his season and half of play but he showed that he isn’t the star running back anymore during the 2020 NFL season.
Hunt struggled to get past defenders, oftentimes throwing himself into the tackler instead of evading their attempts to tackle him. He also wasn’t very dynamic out of the backfield, something fans had hoped he’d be able to provide like past Browns’ backs in Duke Johnson and Jamel White. Both men were as versatile as a runner as they were a receiver.
The Browns, and every NFL team, needs a back like Christian McCaffery. Now, no one should expect a player of that caliber as McCaffery is the best athlete in the NFL, but to find a player who can do a season of 500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving is the next step in NFL evolution.
Hunt looked like he was on his way to that type of career early on as a rookie and then again in 2019 in a handful of games for the Browns after his suspension ended.
Hunt just isn’t the same player in open space as he used to be. Now, the Browns could go after Johnson again, as he’s currently a free agent but it makes more sense that the Browns would lean on recently drafted Demetric Felton, who’s listed as running back and receiver.
If Felton impresses in training camp, while like with Landry, it’s not likely to happen but it could. Especially if Felton steals the show.
Chris Hubbard
Chris Hubbard has done good work for the Browns. He’s been pretty loyal, selfish, he’s taken being benched in step, has developed his skill set to be able to be used all over the line. Everyone should want a dozen guys like Hubbard. A minor problem with Hubbard is that he’s being paid $5 million (just a bit less) to be a backup while taking up a roster spot that could go to a younger option.
Hubbard is 30 and has done enough to warrant another starting spot on another team that isn’t the Browns. This isn’t up for debate, Hubbard is still a starter. He’s just not a starter here in Cleveland. The problem isn’t so much isn’t so much that he’s paid what he’s paid, it’s more or less the Browns are stocking up offensive linemen like the Indians are bullpen players.
They just drafted rookie offensive tackle out of Cinncinatti in James Hudson. They also have two guards who really stepped up last year in Michael Dunn and Blake Hance. Both men stand at 6’5, which is more than tall enough to play tackle.
Not only that, but the Browns also have Nick Harris at center and a returning Drew Forbes (also 6’5) to fill out the positions. These are all guys who could do some real damage. If someone has to go, it’s got to be Hubbard.
Stephen Carlson
As far as tight ends go, Stephen Carlson isn’t the best catch….get it? Primarily a blocking tight end, Carlson served his quarterback and running backs well in that regard but as a pass-catching option, he’s not shown to be much of one. He only registered one reception all year. This despite playing in all sixteen games and starting in two.
Clearly, he’s an offensive lineman who’s too light to be tackle. There’s one player on this team that deserves an opportunity and if that opportunity has to come at the expense of the fourth-string tight end, then so be it. That player is Johnny Stanton.
The 6’2, 240 lb fullback is an athlete’s athlete. Having played many positions but one being quarterback while at UNLV. He’s someone who could be a modern-day H-Back, filling in at both tight end and fullback.
Granted, with Andy Janovich on the team, Stanton doesn’t make much sense but if the Browns were to move Stanton to tight end, then that might make Carlson expendable.
Or they could just cut someone else to make room for Stanton.
Andy Janovich
If you don’t love Andy Janovich, you don’t love football. He’s gritty, grimy, and can block Charlie Brown so hard that he’d actually have a blockhead. The problem with Janovich is that head coach Kevin Stefanski loves his players to be versatile. Now, that’s not to say that if given the opportunity that Janovich couldn’t go Mike Alstott on someone, after all, he’s bigger than most linebackers. What he can’t do is something Johnny Stanton can do, which is play quarterback in a pinch.
Now, Stanton is lucky to be on an NFL team at all, so the idea of him playing quarterback for the Browns and showing any real aptitude isn’t likely to happen. Yet, if Baker Mayfield and Case Keenum both get hurt, who are you going to call on to replace them?
Enter Stanton.
Now, Stanton isn’t the better player than Janovich as far as fullbacks are concerned. Yet, he is far more versatile and could be anything the team needs whenever they need it. That’s something Janovich isn’t known to be able to do. Maybe he could, who knows? We’re simply basing all this on prior history.
We can’t assume something we’ve never seen before. Ideally the move would be to trade David Njoku, keep Stephen Carlson, and promote Stanton to an H-Back role as both the fourth tight end and fifth running back (second fullback).
Greedy Williams
It’s good that Greedy Williams is back. It’ll be great if he’s healthy, though that’s still something we have to wait and see about. Now, like most of this list, Williams would only be a casualty if the Browns feel he’s not up to snuff and a player at another position has really upped his game.
Williams would be a likely person to be cut in that situation. He’s got a really concerning injury that’s affecting a nerve. Those are wildly unpredictable. Since it’s in his shoulder if he can’t tackle or even lift his arm, he’s not going to be the most useful or versatile player in the secondary.
Another issue would be the fact that he didn’t play great his rookie year and missed all of his second year. He’s now in year three and quickly nearing the end of his rookie deal. If he can’t perform well, we could see him get cut if it means opening up a roster spot. Especially if the Browns are still eyeing free agents.
The Browns are lucky to have the depth they do at cornerback but they’re only as lucky as they are if Williams can stay healthy and improve from a rather disappointing rookie year. If he does struggle and someone like Richard Sherman is still unsigned, the move would need to be made to let Williams go and go after Sherman.
Sure, you can argue Williams is still young, but if he can’t stay healthy or impress in his third year, then why bother? Sure, he could still rebound but why take that risk when you’re so deep at the position and still have the option of adding more talent?
If he can’t go, make the call
Sione Takitaki
I feel like Abraham Lincoln in the Epic Rap Battles of History when he shouted out “You, I wanna like you!” as that’s how I feel about Sione Takitaki. He seems like a good guy, and every once in a while you see a flash of something and you go “….yeeaaaahhhhh.” That’s not often enough, however, and far too often Takitaki is getting tackles six or seven yards off the line of scrimmage.
Now, he’s not a bad cover guy. He’s done some damage in the intermediate but being aggressively average while getting more and more expensive is a sure-fire way of getting yourself axed. This is made even worse when you realize the Browns spent most of their offseason trying to fix the problems that Takitaki has been responsible for; in part.
They went out and got JeremiahOwusu-Koramoah and Tony Fields in the draft; both men can play outside linebacker or safety, making them far more versatile than Takitaki is. They also got Anthony Weaver from the Colts, a polarizing signing but someone who may just be good enough to not get blown up. Hopefully.
The Browns also saw development from Jacob Phillips that had some fans excited about his potential.
All in all, it could be Takitaki is on the chopping block by the end of camp.
Mack Wilson
Second verse, same as the first. After a sound rookie year, Mack Wilson came into the 2020 season as Joe Schobert’s heir apparent as the team’s best linebacker. Wilson was anything but. He played in 13 games but started in only eight while amassing 39 total tackles. A far cry from what he was doing as a rookie. Not only was he less aggressive against the rush, but he was also far too inefficient against the pass too.
He went from seven pass deflections in 2019 to just two in 2020. Since he wasn’t much of a pass rusher, to begin with, Wilson couldn’t really rely on losing one or two things that made him a top prospect. Yet, he did. Now, part of it may have been injury-based, sure. That hasn’t stopped anyone from getting cut before, however.
Like with Sione Takitaki, Wilson may soon find himself out of a job due to the changes made in the offseason. The Browns brought in three new players to potentially be starters for the club while seeing a modest leap in execution from Jacob Phillips.
What gives Takitaki the edge over Wilson is that Takitaki was seen by many as a solid player in 2020 who just didn’t make plays. Wilson didn’t just not make plays, he got scorched from time to time, maybe more frequently than many other players on that Browns’ defense.
If there’s a cut happening at linebacker to a player who’s been around a few years, why not Wilson? It’s not like he’s done anything to warrant more time. If he struggles in training camp and a roster spot just needs to be found for someone else, Wilson’s your guy.