Cleveland Browns: The purge of the Ray Farmer era is almost complete

The Cleveland Browns are, hopefully, pulling themselves out of that early-2010s dark age. The last general manager before the current “era” of football was Ray Farmer, of whom the Browns are nearly done purging themselves.

The Cleveland Browns have been through a lot since 1999. Nine head coaches have come through the doors in Berea, and not a single one has found permanent success. Perhaps more importantly, the Browns have had nine separate general managers in just 19 years since their return.

Currently, the Browns seemed to have found organizational direction under John Dorsey. They want the guys who have laughed in the faces of their doubters, no matter what adversity they faced.

However, there are still a few players remaining from the times that brought the Browns really down into the dumps: The Ray Farmer Era. Although Cleveland’s record was worse during the Sashi Brown reign from 2016-2017, at least it had a direction.

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Ray Farmer was the antithesis of what a general manager should be. Not only was he bad at drafting, free agency, and adhering to NFL rules, but he gave no direction to the team in any shape or form.

As of the time of writing (May 21, 2018), four players remain on Cleveland’s roster from Farmer’s time as GM. Although three of them can be considered good, (Joel Bitonio, Duke Johnson, and Christian Kirksey), there is one rather large outlier.

Why, oh why, is Nate Orchard still on the Cleveland Browns’ roster? The 6-foot-3, 259-pound Utah product was great in college, but he serves no purpose being on this roster.

Orchard is a marginal depth piece at best, and totally useless at worst. Since the Browns revitalized their front seven starting in 2016, Orchard’s playing time has dwindled to minimal levels. John Dorsey, it’s time to take this one out to pasture and pull the trigger.

With the signing of former Texas defensive lineman Marcell Frazier, Orchard’s time could be up in Cleveland. Whether or not he finds a new home in the NFL, who knows? As a second round pick, though, it might be hard for some defense-needy teams to pass up on him.

In any case, it’s time to end Orchard’s run with the Browns. His time is up, and he has no place on the roster anymore. Frankly, Nate Orchard is just taking away a roster spot from a younger, more talented defender, whoever that might be.

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With that move, the Browns would finally be free of the terror that was Ray Farmer. All that is left is to pull the trigger on removing his one last drafting mistake. Then, and only then, will this Browns team finally be free.

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