Cleveland Browns: Checking on the moves that have not worked at the bye
By Randy Gurzi
Trading for Tyrod Taylor
Tyrod Taylor was supposed to be the starter for the Browns this season under center, but the player they picked up for a third-round pick has instead been sitting on the sidelines watching Baker Mayfield change the culture of the team. And he’s making a lot of money to do that.
According to OverTheCap.com, Taylor has a cap number of $16 million. If that number sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the same cap space that Brock Osweiler had when the Browns traded for him in 2017. That means for the past two seasons, Cleveland has gone out and acquired a quarterback that eats up $16 million.
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The difference? Osweiler at least gave them something in return — and he never even played a down for them in the regular season. Osweiler came to the Browns as a salary dump. They took on his money and the Houston Texans gave Cleveland a second-round pick. As for Taylor, he was 0-2 as a starter and the only win he has under his belt for the Browns was when he was hurt and Mayfield came in to lead Cleveland to the comeback win.
To be fair, Taylor was supposed to be the starter. The plan was for him to play as Baker Mayfield sat and learned the game. The problem is, that wasn’t needed. Mayfield was ready to start from day one and he proved it by outperforming Taylor in just two quarters of action — and he did so without any reps with the starters.
Taylor will surely move on in 2019 and his time in Cleveland will quickly be forgotten. He will likely get another chance to start, but knowing they were going quarterback at No, 1 overall, the Browns should have never brought Taylor in.