Cleveland Browns releasing Christian Kirksey is not a surprising decision

The Cleveland Browns made the decision Tuesday to cut Christian Kirksey, but the team’s decision to move on from one of their captains was not a surprise.

The Cleveland Browns have had few holdovers on their roster over the past several seasons, but Christian Kirksey was one of the few. After being drafted in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Kirksey was the second longest-tenured player on the Cleveland Browns roster, only behind Joel Bitonio, who was selected one round prior to Kirksey.

However, Kirksey’s run with the Cleveland Browns has come to an end, as the team announced Tuesday morning they have released Kirksey after six seasons with the organization.

Kirksey played 73 games in his six seasons with the Browns, including 54 starts. The 27-year-old compiled 484 total tackles, 30 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, two interceptions and four passes defensed.

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Kirksey quickly established himself as a leader on and off the field for the Browns. The linebacker was named Cleveland’s defensive captain three times in his career and was clearly the Browns emotional leader.

Despite his impact for the Browns, Cleveland’s decision to move on from Kirksey was not a surprise. Over the past two seasons, Kirksey has managed to play in only nine games, including only two games in 2019.

With his injuries keeping Kirksey off the field, it was unlikely the Browns front office would want to pay the salary he was due in 2020. By releasing Kirksey, the Browns saved $7.55 million in cap space.

The Browns attempted to restructure Kirksey’s contract to lower his cap hit in 2020, but failed to do so, according to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. Bringing Kirksey back in 2020 only made sense if the Browns would have been able to lower his salary cap hit because his on-field production and durability were no longer matching his salary.

When the Browns signed Kirksey to the four-year, $38 million extension in May 2017, Kirksey had established himself as one of the league’s best tacklers. However, making only 44 combined tackles the past two seasons made it hard to justify paying Kirksey over $7.5 million in 2020.

Now that the Browns have released Kirksey and are expected to let Joe Schobert leave in free agency, linebacker has become a major need for Cleveland this offseason. As the roster is currently constructed, second-year linebackers Mack Wilson and Sione Takitaki are currently set to be the starters at the position.

With the cap space gained by releasing Kirksey, the Browns gained cap flexibility that can be used in free agency or to sign extensions for key players in the future. The lack of depth and veteran leadership in the middle of their defense makes it extremely likely linebacker will be an area of focus for Andrew Berry and the Browns front office this offseason.