Cody Kessler latest Cleveland Browns Alum to join Patriots

The New England Patriots continued their trend of adding former Cleveland Browns, this time being quarterback Cody Kessler.

Cody Kessler, who started eight games at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in 2016, has signed with the New England Patriots, joining several other former Browns. Amazingly, there are only six Browns still on the active roster who were on the 2016 roster, plus two additional players on Injured Reserve in David Njoku and Christian Kirksey.

The Patriots now have five ex-Browns from the Class of 2016 on their 53-player active roster plus a sixth on the practice squad. No, this is not a conspiracy, but you do have to admit that it is highly improbable.

Kessler is not exactly Tom Brady 2.0, having already been cut by the quarterback-starved Jacksonville Jaguars. He then had a look-see at Philadelphia this summer, only to be cut when the Eagles signed another ex-Brown, Josh McCown.

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Kessler did a decent job for the Browns as a rookie, for the horrific 2016 team that did not know how to pass block at all. They lost center Alex Mack to free agency that year, and then ran off right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. Joel Bitonio was injured in Week 5, and the rest was chaos up front. That team gave up an appalling 66 sacks, and unofficially set a record for having the quarterback get knocked out of the game: Robert Griffin III (twice), McCown (twice), Kessler (twice), and Charlie Whitehurst all missed time due to injuries. Kevin Hogan managed to stay healthy. At any rate Kessler put up decent numbers, completing 64.9 percent of his passes and compiled six touchdowns and only two interceptions while taking a beating behind a pathetic line.

Kessler is sometimes faulted for having a weak arm, which in this writer’s estimation is overblown. The Browns offensive line was so weak in 2016 that after Bitonio went down, no Browns quarterback could take a five step drop. There were no bombs thrown simply because they did not have sufficient pocket integrity to do so. That was just not a fair assessment for a quarterback in his first year. For that matter, now that Tom Brady is nearing Social Security age, his Howitzer is no longer among the league’s strongest, and yet it does not stop him from winning.

Kessler can legitimately be faulted for sometimes holding the ball too long, a common fault among young quarterbacks, and also being undersized and easy to sack. The first problem can be worked on, though the rest is not going to change.

The reason for Kessler losing his job in 2017 was never made clear. Starting a rookie (DeShone Kizer) over a second-year man is usually the wrong decision, especially when the rookie came out two years early from college and was only 21 years old. Nevertheless, Kessler was out and at the end of the year was traded for a song. Based purely on speculation, perhaps coach Hue Jackson blamed the quarterbacks for the team’s 0-16 record that year and the front office was willing to oblige him. At any rate,  all three quarterbacks remaining on the roster in were ousted after the 2017 season in favor of proven veterans Tyrod Taylor and Drew Stanton, and not to mention promising rookie Baker Mayfield.

Kessler went 2-2 as a starter in Jacksonville, but was given a pink slip along with Blake Bortles.

There is nothing in Kessler’s record to indicate he is a future superstar, but all evidence is that he can win a game or two as a backup for the right team. Plus, his price tag is not as high as, say, McCown’s. Simply put, Kessler was a bargain.

The Browns might have also been interested in adding a third quarterback to replace Drew Stanton, who is now on injured reserve, but it was more important to use the available roster spots to shore up the defense in the near term, due to injuries. However, they might still sign the right quarterback if he is out there.  Kevin Hogan comes to mind as a potential third-stringer behind Mayfield and Garrett Gilbert.

The Patriots also have a low-budget rookie quarterback in Jarrett Stidham, who made a good impression in preseason, but who is still a rookie at the end of the day.

Over the years, for whatever reason, Bill Belichick and the Patriots seem to have had an affinity for adding former Cleveland Browns.

Last year, they collected Jason McCourty and Danny Shelton. It has not been made public why they left but scuttlebutt was that they asked to be traded. Perhaps they were simply miffed by 0-16, or perhaps they had a problem with the coaching staff.  The talented but troubled Josh Gordon was sent packing because someone, probably coach Jackson, got angry when he filmed a TV commercial without getting the proper permission from the team, and re-injured a hamstring during the shoot.

As for Jamie Collins, this was a case of Sashi Brown paying way too much money for a good-but-not-great linebacker. Collins left New England to make $10 million per year with the Browns, and then was re-signed by New England for $3 million including incentive bonuses. If the Browns were paying three times as much for the same player, no wonder they cut him. However, though fans were occasionally irked that he wasn’t worth the All-Pro salary he was getting, Collins was a very good player, leading the Browns in tackles last year. He was not at fault for obtaining a contract that overpaid him.

The Patriots also have linebacker Scooby Wright on their practice squad.  Wright was drafted by the Browns in the seventh round in 2016 but did not stick with them.