Cleveland Browns Phil Taylor in a tough spot

The Cleveland Browns spent their two first-round picks to fortify the trenches on both sides of the ball, and their No. 12 overall selection filled a big position of need, as they drafted high-upside nose tackle Danny Shelton. Currently, Phil Taylor is penciled in as the backup nose tackle behind Shelton, who was drafted that high with the idea that he will be able to step in and make an impact from the first day.

Taylor is currently at the crossroads of his Browns career, as he played in just five games last season due to a knee injury, and there are still some lingering doubts about his health. A former first-round pick himself out of Baylor in the 2011 NFL Draft, Taylor is now 27 and has looked like a bit of a disappointment to this point in his career. He’s a talented player who is capable of being a fixture up front, but he’s never been able to be a consistent force in this league.

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Thankfully, it looks like Taylor’s knee woes are past him, as the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram’s Scott Petrak reports that the veteran nose tackle “should be good to go” for training camp after requiring surgery on that knee. The Akron Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich adds that Taylor is “comfortable” with his current role on the team.

Which raises the question…what is his role? Shelton will be an immediate challenge for Taylor, who clearly isn’t a lock to make the roster at this stage. Some might say he’s too good to cut, but that isn’t the case when he’s set to earn $5.477 million. Taylor isn’t worth that much money, because that’s literally what a top nose tackle makes per year. While Taylor has talent, but he isn’t that caliber of a player and hasn’t been productive since his rookie season in 2011, which offered up some very misleading stats in run defense (59 tackles).

More importantly, none of that $5.477 million is guaranteed, so the Cleveland Browns can simply give him the axe without any issues on their part. While the Browns have the second-most cap space in the league, everyone knows that you have to save money whenever you can, since you never know when the cap will catch up to you.

Of course, the only way releasing Taylor becomes a simple decision is if Shelton shows up well in camp and if the Browns are comfortable with their backup options at nose tackle. Shelton can’t play every single snap, and it’s always best to have a Plan B in place when a rookie is involved. We’ve seen plenty of rookie defensive linemen, such as Aaron Donald, make big first-year impacts, and while Shelton isn’t a Donald-caliber player and plays a way different position, it isn’t unreasonable to expect him to be an upgrade.

It’s why Taylor’s return to health will come at a time when he’ll have to be in a heated battle for his job, because even though he’d be an excellent backup nose tackle, $5.477 million is an awful lot of money for a second fiddle. If Taylor can’t win the starting job, then all bets are off regarding his status with the Browns in 2015.

He’d have no trouble finding work elsewhere, but it would be extremely difficult for him to find a starting job on the open market. That said, he would likely get some extra time to find work, since most teams release talented veterans early as a courtesy, allowing them to compete for a little bit and learn a new team’s playbook.

In a way, Taylor’s 2015 future with the Browns might not depend on his own play, because it’s conceivable that he could fare out OK in camp and still get released if Shelton simply plays that well. Because to stick around as an expensive backup nose tackle, Taylor would really have to show up in camp.

Again, Taylor is a talented player who could still put it all together, but it’s just too hard to count on any sort of consistency from him. If he sticks around, then it’s because Shelton isn’t ready or it’s because the Browns really dislike their other backup options at the position. To put it all into perspective, Taylor’s cap number is almost $2 million more than Houston Texans new NT Vince Wilfork in 2015.

Next: Grading Browns 2015 Draft

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