The Cleveland Browns are building a young roster, meaning several veterans were let go this offseason to clear space for the youth movement.
The Cleveland Browns let fans know a rebuild was in place early in 2016, when the veteran purge began.
Alex Mack, Mitchell Schwartz, Karlos Dansby and others were let go in favor of rebuilding the team through the draft and taking a more analytical approach. It was not meant to make the team a contender right away, but rather to build up to that point to be a consistent contender in the future.
The rebuild continues this year as the Browns drafted 10 players who all have a solid chance to make the final roster, with the top five being locks to do just that. Because of the slew of picks, more veterans were let go this offseason, although it wasn’t as drastic as in 2016.
Some fans may have lost a favorite player, but the hope is that some of the new talent brought in can replace the lost talent and become franchise stars for years to come.
The Browns have made a good amount of roster moves this offseason, but here are the most notable roster subtractions up to this point.
Before the Browns were blown up following the 2015 season, Gary Barnidge was coming off the best season of his career. He hauled in 79 receptions for 1,043 yards and made the Pro Bowl, while also agreeing to an extension with the Browns.
The team added Seth DeValve in last year’s NFL Draft, but Barnidge still remained the top option at the tight end position. But after a year in which he caught just 55 passes for 612 yards and two touchdowns, an upgrade was sought in the draft.
The selection of David Njoku in the first round of this year’s draft signaled the beginning of the end for Barnidge in Cleveland, who was released soon after the selection.
The move makes sense according to the current philosophy in place, as the Browns will look to make the younger Njoku the featured tight end while DeValve can add some production as well.
The team didn’t solely release Barnidge because of a bad year during a 1-15 season, but the opportunity to add Njoku outweighed keeping the 31-year-old Barnidge who has only had one solid NFL season.
The genius, or lack thereof, of this move won’t be known until we see both Barnidge and Njoku play in 2017, but it does follow the front office’s rebuilding strategy. The potential of youth will always outweigh that of a veteran in a rebuilding scenario, especially when the veteran is coming off an average season.
I imagine that Robert Griffin III looks in the mirror sometimes and wonders where it all went wrong.
He was one of the hottest names in football back in 2012, only for fans to groan when he was signed and made the team’s starting quarterback just over a year ago.
As much as the front office and coaching staff wanted to avoid the topic of tanking, that was clearly the intention last year. Anyone who watched a game knows that.
The roster was stripped of talent, while the team passed on Carson Wentz and committed to Griffin, who is no longer close to the player he once was. To be fair to him, he wasn’t given much to work with last year.
No matter how positive Hue Jackson tried to spin it, Griffin was never in the Browns’ long-term plans. It was clear from the start he wasn’t the same player, as his injuries drove home the point that it is impossible for him to stay healthy for an entire season.
Griffin was a likable guy, and never did anything off the field to make fans dislike him, but it was tough to watch him when he was healthy last season. Letting him go was a no-brainer.
Josh McCown nearly reached folk hero status after getting injured almost as soon as his season started in two consecutive years, but his 1-10 starting record with the Browns isn’t much to smile about.
Remember when he was nearly decapitated on the first drive of the season in 2015? Or how about when he played with a destroyed shoulder in Week 2 of last season?
McCown, like Griffin, was just unable to stay healthy enough to be this team’s quarterback. The fact he is 37 years old doesn’t help him either.
The veteran was brought to Cleveland back when Ray Farmer was still in charge and some considered Johnny Manziel the quarterback of the future. Dark times.
Like Griffin, he was never supposed to make himself the franchise quarterback. With the Browns failing to invest heavily in a young quarterback, the team was in limbo and picked up McCown as a sort of bridge guy, heading toward a rebuild that finally happened in 2016.
He had some exciting moments and piled up a few big games, but was not able to lead this team to many victories. It was not entirely his fault, but he did nothing to warrant many fans raising any sort of fuss when he was let go.
Tramon Williams was another veteran brought in by Ray Farmer, and was supposed to be a veteran presence to help the secondary. Not much changed.
Williams appeared in 27 total games with the Browns from 2015-2016, recording two interceptions and not doing much to change one of the worst defenses in the league.
He was released by the Browns earlier this offseason, and went on to explain how he was happy to get out of what he called an unstable organization.
At this point in his career, Williams is right to want to get off a rebuilding team. He is near the end of his career and wants to get back to winning after spending so many years with the Green Bay Packers and doing just that.
The Browns may have lost the veteran, but have added Calvin Pryor and Jabrill Peppers to the secondary this season, while Jamar Taylor and Joe Haden are already in place to anchor the unit.
Williams is entitled to wanting to leave, and it actually worked out well for the Browns. The team got younger and more talented, proving the potential benefits of this rebuilding process. This will only be more true once Peppers actually signs his contract.
It is hard to think of anything negative to say about Andrew Hawkins. While the Browns as a whole struggled during his three years with the team, he always put in his work and was a reliable target for whomever lined up at quarterback.
He recorded 824 receiving yards back in 2014 when the team gave fans hopes of a playoff berth, but we know how that ended. His numbers dropped significantly the next two seasons, which is why the front office likely opted to let him go in favor of keeping the young receivers on the roster.
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
Hawkins is now with the New England Patriots, where his style of play will fit perfectly. If the level of quarterback play displayed by Brian Hoyer in 2014 remained in town in 2015 and 2016, perhaps Hawkins could have repeated his 2014 success.
But as with others on this list, the overall lack of talent on the rest of the roster did nothing to help him succeed. Hawkins’ release sticks with the overall theme of choosing young talent over veterans, while keeping him in town would only take playing time away from the players this front office wants to evaluate.
One day, hopefully soon, the Browns will be good again and seek out the veteran presence of a player like Hawkins, but the young core must produce some victories before anyone should get their hopes up.
This is the frustrating one.
Terrelle Pryor burst onto the scene as a wide receiver in 2016, hauling in 77 receptions for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.
He helped keep the offense afloat when the quarterback and offensive line play was dismal, yet he is now a member of the Washington Redskins.
His initial asking price seemed to be too high, but the fact he signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Redskins is more than frustrating. The Browns easily could have retained him for that price, but moved on and went with Kenny Britt.
Pryor and his agent may have overplayed their hand, but the Browns still could have made something work. That, or the front office is confident enough in Corey Coleman to be the number one guy over anything Pryor could have provided.
A counter argument is that Pryor had his great season when the Browns were 1-15, so his value may not have been as high as some thought. When a team loses so many games, the positives are sometimes blown out of proportion.
Pryor is only 28 years old, so the Browns may have made a huge mistake, but time will tell.
Next: What to expect from the 2017 draft picks
Who do you think is the biggest loss as the Browns head into the 2017 season?