Cleveland Browns: 20 Worst free agents signings in franchise history
By Randy Gurzi
Cleveland Browns worst free agents signings No. 17: Greg Robinson, Left Tackle
This one went from a steal to a bust in no time at all. Back in 2018, the Cleveland Browns signed former No. 2 overall pick to compete for a spot on the roster. He did much more than that, however, after Hue Jackson was let go that is.
Jackson really liked undrafted free agent Desmond Harrison and started him at left tackle as the heir to Joe Thomas. For eight weeks, Harrison struggled to hold off pass-rushers, and when they moved on from Jackson, interim head coach Gregg Williams and interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens inserted Robinson.
With the veteran now in the lineup, the Browns blockers went from one of the worst in the league to one of the best. It was crazy how much they improved but given Robinson’s shaky history, there was still an expectation that the team needed to get better at one of the more pivotal spots.
John Dorsey had other plans. He traded away his first-round pick for Odell Beckham, Jr., and avoided taking a tackle until the sixth-round when he took Drew Forbes. That meant they were turning things back over to Robinson who was given a deal worth up to $9 million.
That proved to be a mistake as Robinson started the season off by being kicked out of a game in Week 1 and never got back on track after that. He later found himself in a lot of trouble for trying to smuggle marijuana across the border but he was already no longer associated with the team when that happened.
If there was any positive news from this move, it was that new general manager Andrew Berry used the 2019 offensive line as a reason to invest heavily with players such as Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills — making it one of the biggest strengths of the team in 2020.