Cleveland Browns release defensive back Charles Gaines

The Cleveland Browns continue the roster purge of cornerbacks, releasing second-year player Charles Gaines.

The Cleveland Browns continued to trim the excess cornerbacks off the roster by releasing second-year player Charles Gaines on Friday.

The news was reported by ESPN’s Adam Caplan.

Gaines joins Pierre Desir, who was also released on Friday, as another one of former general manager Ray Farmer’s draft picks to be let go.

The Browns selected the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Gaines in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Louisville, where he had seven interceptions in two seasons after switching from the wide receiver position.

Related: Browns release defensive back Pierre Desir

More from Dawg Pound Daily

• How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
• Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
• 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
• Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
• 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target

Gaines spent the first half of his rookie season on the injured reserve – designated to return list until late October. He made his debut on Nov. 15 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and would appear in six games, making four starts. He finishes his Browns career with 15 tackles and two passes defensed.

His most memorable moment may have been when he got into a shoving match with safety Donte Whitner on the sidelines during Cleveland’s 30-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Gaines becomes the seventh of Farmer’s 18 draft picks to be released by the Browns. He joins fellow 2015 draftees Vince Mayle, Hayes Pullard and Ifo Ekpre-Olomu as players who know longer wear the Orange and Brown.

That list could grow by Saturday’s deadline to reduce rosters to 53 players, or soon after, as fullback Malcolm Johnson, tight end Randall Telfer and cornerback Justin Gilbert are far from locks to make the final roster.

“The personnel department and the coaching staff will continue the process of finalizing our roster over the next couple of days. These are extremely difficult days, as you very well know, because we have to tell a lot of young men that they have done everything that you have asked of them the last eight months that they don’t have a chance to be part of the team right now,” head coach Hue Jackson said of the looming roster cuts. “We hope that we have helped them become better players and better men along through the process, but it is tough because we all know that a lot of their dreams are tied to this opportunity.”