Cleveland Browns: 20 Worst free agents signings in franchise history
By Randy Gurzi
The Cleveland Browns have been praised for free agency moves, but there was a time when they used to miss the mark quite often. Here are 20 examples of them doing just that.
It’s never fun to drift down the ugly parts of memory lane, and unfortunately, the Cleveland Browns have their share of ugly memories. With them gaining all sorts of praise the past two offseasons for their moves, it could bring up bad feelings of other times the team thought they had hit some home runs.
The Browns have stuck their necks out in free agency and it’s hurt them pretty bad. There’s hope this season won’t be like that, mainly because second-year general manager Andrew Berry seems to have the right stuff — and keeps making the right moves.
With all that said, we look back at the less-exciting times with the 20 worst free-agent signings this team has made in their history.
Cleveland Browns worst free agents signings No. 20: Carlos Hyde, Running Back
Right out of the gate, we have a free-agency bust that really wasn’t on the player. Ahead of the 2018 season, the Browns brought in a popular player in Carlos Hyde, who was a star collegiately for Ohio State.
Hyde signed a three-year contract worth $15 million which signified that he would be the bell cow. But that was before they landed Nick Chubb in the second round of the draft, which should have changed things.
The problem is, it didn’t. Head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley continued to run with Hyde even though Chubb outperformed him. Eventually, general manager John Dorsey traded him away for a fifth-round pick to force his coaches to use Chubb.
Hyde finished with 382 yards and five touchdowns in six games but had just 3.4 yards per carry. Not what they expected when signing him to that deal.