Ben Tate Released by the Browns
One of the biggest off-season signings for the Cleveland Browns has been released. First reported by Zac Jackson, and later confirmed by the team, Ben Tate has been released:
The Browns released running back Ben Tate this morning.
— Zac Jackson (@AkronJackson) November 18, 2014
Tate was seen as a perfect pickup for the Browns. He has experience with the Zone Blocking Scheme, had fresh legs after being a backup in Houston and was hungry to make a name for himself.
Injuries, poor performance and the emergence of rookies Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell stopped him from getting a chance to make his mark. Tate ran for 333 yards on 109 carries, and average of 3.1 yards per carry. He also caught 9 passes for 60 yards.
He hurt his knee in Week 1 before returning a month later against the Titans. That was his best game as he carried the ball 22 times for 124 yards. The next game he had 25 carries for 78 yards before things started to go down hill.
Last week Tate spoke out about splitting time with the rookies. Then on Sunday he had 2 carries for negative 9 yards. The combination of poor performance, possible issues in the locker room and the Browns need to add players at other positions led to his release today.
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The Indianapolis Colts, who just lost Ahmad Bradshaw, have been noted as a possible landing spot. They do not run a ZBS but are in need of a back. That would setup an interesting game between the Colts and the Browns where the Colts top 2 backs, Tate and Trent Richardson, would both be former Browns.
Personally I am glad to see this front office is not worried about cutting their losses and moving on. If they make a mistake, as it seems they did with Tate, they don’t chase bad money with good. Now hopefully they don’t make a ton of mistakes but moving on from them quickly is vitally important.
How shocked are you by this move?